ATTORNEY-GENERAL

EU Law

Priti Patel: To ask the Attorney-General which EU (a) directives, (b) regulations and (c) other legislation affecting the Law Officers' Departments require transposition into UK law; and what estimate he has made of the cost to (i) the public purse and (ii) the private sector of such measures.

Edward Garnier: The Law Officers' Departments do not have any EU directives, regulations or other legislation that require transposition into UK law.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Post Office Network

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent progress he has made on securing the future of the post office network.

Edward Davey: My written statement of 24 January 2012, Official Report, columns 8-12WS, set out recent progress to secure the future of the Post Office network, which is underpinned by £1.34 billion of Government funding to maintain a network of at least 11,500 branches, and investment to modernise thousands of branches.

Pub Company Industry

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he plans to take in response to the motion passed by the House on 12 January 2012 on regulation of the pub company industry.

Edward Davey: The Government note the result of the debate on 12 January 2012 and acknowledge the strong parliamentary interest in this area.
	The tough, self-regulatory reforms we have announced will bring about real change for lessees and tenants across the country.

UK Competitive Advantage

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent assessment he has made of the sectors in which the UK has a competitive advantage.

Greg Clark: As part of the Growth Review and ongoing work within the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and United Kingdom Trade and Investment the Government have examined a range of evidence on where the UK's competitive advantage lies.
	For example, analysis of trade data indicates the UK has a comparative advantage in a range of knowledge intensive service sectors such as finance, business services and communications, as well as high tech sectors such as aerospace, chemicals and pharmaceuticals.
	Within this there are also areas of particular expertise within broader sectors. For example, within advanced manufacturing, the UK has a disproportionately large share of the global market for jet engines and turbines.

Apprentices

Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans he has to support small and medium-sized businesses to take on apprentices.

John Hayes: We are taking radical steps to make apprenticeships more attractive by simplifying the processes for employers, cutting out unnecessary paperwork and bringing in up to 40,000 financial incentive payments of £1,500 to support small businesses taking on their first young apprentice.

Student Places

Pat Glass: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what allocation of student numbers he proposes for institutions which have submitted bids to his Department for additional places under the core and margin model.

David Willetts: Institutions will receive formal notification of their provisional allocations of core and margin places, subject to any appeals, from the Funding Council this week. I can inform the House that:
	At least 143 further education colleges received allocations of at least 9,547 places.
	As a result, at least 60 further education colleges will have a direct funding relationship with HEFCE for the first time.
	35 higher education institutions received allocations of at least 9,303 places.
	Our reforms offer choice and value for money for students.

Angard

Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have had with Royal Mail's management on the management of Angard.

Edward Davey: Operational matters, such as the recruitment of temporary staff, are the responsibility of management at Royal Mail. The Government do not play a role in these issues.
	Clearly, the problems experienced by some seasonal workers are deeply regrettable. I have raised this matter with Royal Mail and have been assured that Royal Mail management are continuing to work very hard to rectify any outstanding issues. In addition, I understand that the company has been reviewing the issues that arose this Christmas with a view to ensuring that there is no repeat in future.

Apprentices: Agriculture

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many farm apprenticeships there were in each county in each of the last five years.

John Hayes: holding answer 1 February 2012
	I have placed data in the Libraries of the House showing the number of apprenticeship programme starts in the agriculture, horticulture and animal care sector subject area by local authority, 2006/07 to 2010/11, the latest academic years for which final data are available.
	Information on the number of apprenticeship programme starts is published in a quarterly Statistical First Release (SFR). The latest SFR was published on 31 January 2012:
	http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/statisticalfirstrelease/sfr_current
	Information on the number of apprenticeship starts by geographic breakdown and sector subject areas are available in supplementary tables to the SFR:
	http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/statisticalfirstrelease/sfr_supplementary_tables/Apprenticeship_sfr_supplementary_tables/

Banks: Regulation

Gemma Doyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills which teams in his Department had responsibility for the Project Merlin agreement with the banks.

Mark Prisk: No Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) officials were directly involved in the 'Project Merlin' negotiations with representatives of the banking industry. However, colleagues from BIS's Business Environment and Enterprise Directorates provided advice to Ministers when requested, related to the Project Merlin negotiations.

Basic Skills

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions have taken place between his Department and the Department for Education to ensure that students on vocational courses and in apprenticeships receive appropriate literacy and numeracy support; and if he will make a statement.

John Hayes: The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the right hon. Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), recognises the value of English and mathematics within vocational courses and apprenticeships. All apprentices who have not yet achieved a level 1 qualification in literacy/English or numeracy/mathematics are required to take an appropriate qualification or qualifications as part of their apprenticeship programme. Training providers are funded to support apprentices and other learners to achieve qualifications in English and mathematics.
	I have a joint portfolio for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department for Education. Following the Woolf Review recommendations, officials from the two Departments have had a number of discussions to ensure that policy is consistent. To coincide with the entitlement for all 16 to 19-year-olds, I announced in December that training providers should support apprentices towards the achievement of a level 2 qualification in English and mathematics.
	I am conscious of the need to ensure that the quality of apprenticeship provision continues to improve and I have announced that all apprenticeships should entail a rigorous period of learning and the practice of new skills. If standards are sufficiently stretching and expectations of competency high, I believe this will extend over at least 12 months. This will be the minimum expectation for apprenticeships for under 19-year-olds from August 2012.

Departmental Travel

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether his Department has agreed any contracts with (a) private hire vehicle and (b) taxi companies since May 2010.

Edward Davey: Yes, the Department has agreed a contract with Addison Lee using the DWP framework contract. This became effective from January 2011.

Easter

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will bring into force the provision contained in the Easter Act 1928 to fix the date of Easter.

Edward Davey: The Easter Act 1928 would set the date for Easter to fall between 9 and 15 April each year. The Easter Act 1928 remains on the Statute Book, but has not been brought into force. To do so would require an Order in Council, with the approval of both Houses of Parliament. The Act also requires that, before the Order is made,
	“regard shall be had to any opinion officially expressed by any Church or other Christian Body”.
	There is no indication that the Churches are keen to move to a fixed Easter.

Farepak

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent steps the Government has taken to support Farepak customers; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Davey: Farepak is clearly no ordinary insolvency, with numerous creditors and complex actions to recover monies. The Government cannot intervene in an insolvency nor direct the liquidators in their work—only the court has the power to do so. An application was made by the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, my right hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), for disqualification orders against the directors of Farepak.

Higher Education: Applications

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many UCAS applications had been submitted by residents of (a) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency, (b) Middlesbrough local authority, (c) the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, (d) the Tees Valley and (e) the north-east in the 2011-12 admissions cycle by 15 January 2012; and how many such applications had been submitted on the same date in the 2010-11 admissions cycle.

David Willetts: The information, provided by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), and showing all the constituencies in the Tees Valley, is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 All applicants to UCAS by the main 15 January deadline, by parliamentary constituency/region (1) 
			  Application cycle 
			 Constituency: 2010-11 (2) 2011-12 (3) 
			 Darlington 665 614 
			 Hartlepool 796 665 
			 Middlesbrough 652 660 
			 Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland 700 646 
			 Redcar 659 584 
			 Stockton North 662 568 
			 Stockton South 920 814 
			    
			 The Tees Valley 5,054 4,551 
			 The North East 19,026 16,887 
			 (1) Parliamentary constituency has been identified using the home postcode of the applicant, irrespective of their declared area of permanent residence. (2) Applicants applying to enter courses starting in autumn 2011, including those who applied for deferred entry in 2012. (3) Applicants applying to enter courses starting in autumn 2012, including those who applied for deferred entry in 2013.

Investment: Glasgow

Ian Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to encourage private sector investment in industry in Glasgow South West constituency; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Prisk: In encouraging investment, HMG have for example, focussed on: creating the most competitive tax system in the G20 by cutting the main rate of corporation tax from 28% to 26% in April and by 2014 it will reach 23%—the lowest rate in the G7 and fifth lowest in the G20; making the UK the best place in Europe to start, finance and grow a business by focussing on reducing red tape, encouraging high street banks to extend £190 billion of new credit to businesses in 2011 through 'Project Merlin'; continuing the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) until 2014-15, providing up to £600 million of additional lending to around 6,000 small and medium-sized enterprises in 2011-12, and subject to demand, over £2 billion in total over the next four years.
	As regional development is a devolved matter, encouraging investment in specific projects in the Glasgow South West constituency is a matter for the Scottish Executive.

Renewable Energy: Industry

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the value of low carbon industries to the economy; and what estimate he has made of such industries' contribution to (a) gross domestic product, (b) growth and (c) employment.

Mark Prisk: HM Government have made no estimates of the value of low carbon industries or their contribution to gross domestic product, growth and employment.
	According to independent research published by K-Matrix (Knowledge Matrix), and commissioned by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, turnover in the Low Carbon and Environmental Goods and Services sector in 2009/10 was estimated at around £116.8 billion and employment was estimated at approximately 914,000. These estimates include all activity across the wider supply chain that can be attributed to the Low Carbon and Environmental Goods and Services sector. The Low Carbon and Environmental Goods and Service Sector can be split broadly in to three sub-sectors: traditional environmental goods, renewable energy, and low carbon activities.
	K-Matrix turnover growth forecasts from 2010/11 to 2015/16 for the Low Carbon and Environmental Goods and Services sector are in the following table.
	
		
			 Low Carbon and Environmental Goods and Services 
			  Growth forecasts (percentage) (1) 
			 2010/11 4.8 
			 2011/12 5.0 
			 2012/13 5.1 
			 2013/14 5.3 
			 2014/15 5.4 
			 2015/16 5.6 
			 (1) The growth forecasts provided are based on aggregated forecasts for turnover. Source: K-Matrix 2011 
		
	
	K-Matrix (2011) makes no estimates of the contribution to GDP (Gross Domestic Product), provided by low carbon industries in the UK.

Stem Cells

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the cost to the public purse was of stem cell trials; and for which health categories such trials were carried out in the last year for which figures are available.

David Willetts: The Medical Research Council (MRC) is one of the main agencies through which the Government support medical and clinical research.
	The MRC currently supports a number of clinical trials involving stem cells. These include studies relating to vision, bone repair, liver disease and autoimmune disease. Total spend relating to the four studies listed as follows was £750,000 in 2010-11:
	“To evaluate the effectiveness of cultured human limbal epithelium for the treatment of limbal stem cell deficiency”, Mr F Figuerido, University of Newcastle: (G0900879): Corneal repair/Vision.
	“Autologous cell therapy of fracture nonunion—cell phenotype as a predictor of outcome”, Professor M Marsh, UCL: (G0900880): Bone repair/Musculoskeletal.
	“Autologous macrophage therapy promotes stem cell-mediated liver regeneration: a novel therapy for end-stage liver disease”, Professor S Forbes, University of Edinburgh: (G1000868): Liver disease/Oral and Gastrointestinal.
	In addition to the clinical trials identified, the MRC also supports research in related areas, including a trial of processes which stimulate endogenous stem cell repair:
	“Revival of autochthonous adrenocortical stem cells in autoimmune Addison's disease”, Professor S Pearce, University of Newcastle: (G0900001): Metabolic and Endocrine.
	The Technology Strategy Board has funded one stem cell clinical trial in the last 2 years: Phase II clinical trial to examine Allogeneic Fibroblast therapy for Epidermolysis Bullosa.
	The spend for this project in 2010-11 was £334,088.
	The Department of Health funds the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). Estimated spend in 2010-11 on research infrastructure support for stem cell trials through NIHR biomedical research centres and units is £1.3 million. This supported trials in a wide range of health categories including: cancer; cardiovascular; infection; injuries and accidents; metabolic and endocrine; neurological; oral and gastrointestinal. Data for expenditure by health category cannot be fully disaggregated from total estimated investment.
	In addition, the NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) is currently hosting four stem cell trials that are recruiting patients. These trials are in the following health categories: cancer; inflammatory and immune system; oral and gastrointestinal. Data for spend on stem cell trials through the CRN cannot be disaggregated from total CRN expenditure.

Students: Finance

John Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of planned expenditure on student maintenance grants in (a) cash terms and (b) 2011-12 values in each year from 2011-12 to 2015-16.

David Willetts: holding answer 1 February 2012
	Department estimates of expenditure on student maintenance grants between 2011-12 and 2015-16, consistent with the impact assessment published alongside the 2011 higher education White Paper, are as follows:
	
		
			 Maintenance grants 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 
			 Cash (£ million) 1,300 1,350' 1,450 1,500 
			 2011-12 prices (£ million) 1,300 1,300 1,350 1,400 
		
	
	Student support funding and departmental budgets beyond 2015 are subject to the next spending review.

Students: Finance

John Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent estimate he has made of the Resource Accounting Budget charge on student loans for new students from 2012; and what assumptions this estimate makes about the value of the average (a) tuition fee and (b) maintenance loan.

David Willetts: The Department's current estimate for the Resource Accounting Budget (RAB) charge for loans issued to full-time students under the new system from 2012/13 is around 30%. The estimate assumes an average tuition fee loan of £7,500 and an average maintenance loan of £4,100 in 2012/13.

Students: Finance

John Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he plans to publish a revised Student Loan Repayment Ready Reckoner which will take account of the changes to student loan repayment forecasts described in his Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2010-11.

David Willetts: We are not currently planning to publish a revised version of the November 2010 Student Loan Repayment Ready Reckoner, which was published to support the debate on the emerging proposals following the Browne review.

Students: Finance

John Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will estimate the effect on the Resource Accounting Budget charge on student loans made to (a) current students and (b) new students from 2012 from changes in assumptions and modelling of student loan repayments described in his Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2010-11.

David Willetts: The Department's annual report sets out a number of changes to the assumptions and modelling of student loan repayments that were made in 2010-11. The two key changes were:
	(i) to adjust the methodology to use the latest Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) short term forecasts for RPI and average earnings growth,
	(ii) to provide for the impact of the lower interest charge to borrowers as a result of the low Bank of England base rate.
	The Resource Accounting Budget (RAB) charge for loans issued under the current system in 2010-11 increased from 28% to 33% due to the above changes and the estimate for 2011-12 increased by a similar amount. For full-time students entering higher education under the new system, our current estimate of the RAB charge is around 30%. A more precise figure will be determined by any further changes to modelling and assumptions that may be required, and by information on the take-up of loans and amount borrowed by students as this becomes available during academic year 2012/13.

Third Sector

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what contribution his Department is making to implementation of the Compact with the voluntary sector; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Davey: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) signed up to the renewed Compact published in December 2010.
	The Department's Further Education (FE) and Skills Directorate has a nominated member of its senior management team as the third sector lead who is also a member of the BIS Big Society Programme Board. Similarly, the Skills Funding Agency (a partner organisation of BIS) has a senior responsible officer (SRO) for civil society organisations.
	BIS recognises and values the role that the third sector can play across all parts of the FE and skills system in the successful delivery of learning and skills, particularly in supporting those furthest away from learning and employment.
	FE and Skills within BIS works widely with the third sector, particularly through a highly consultative dialogue with the Third Sector National Learning Alliance (TSNLA) to ensure that third sector interests are appropriately taken into account in a systematic way.
	In addition to regular bilateral and trilateral meetings with BIS FE and Skills, and the Skills Funding Agency, there is membership and direct representation on all relevant BIS, Skills Funding Agency and joint Skills Funding Agency/YPLA advisory groups. This working dialogue continues all year round to help shape our understanding, implementation and evaluation of policy and guidance and its impact on the sector.
	Additional to this:
	The Skills Funding Agency and the TSNLA have established a protocol, which provides a framework for joint working between the Skills Funding Agency and the wider voluntary sector.
	BIS is commissioning research from the Learning and Skills Improvement Service to identify what barriers stand in the way of achieving Government's ambitions for the third sector to play its full role in both learning and skills and in building the Big Society.
	Supported by TSNLA the Learning and Skills Improvement Service is now working closely with and opening up their services to voluntary sector providers.
	In the consumer voluntary sector, BIS sponsors both Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland—the umbrella bodies for the Citizens Advice service across England and Wales and in Scotland. It provides core grant in aid funding to both these charities under S.274 of the Enterprise Act. Our funding enables those bodies to provide essential central services to their customers, the network of Citizens Advice Bureaux (IT, information, training of staff and volunteers, management services). In return this enables the service to feed back to central Government real time data on the issues facing people on a wide number of social policy issues.

UK Export Finance

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what applications have been received from (a) exporters and (b) investors to use UK Export Finance products in 2011-12.

Edward Davey: In the 2011-12 financial year to date, there have been 110 applications from exporters and none from investors.

CABINET OFFICE

Big Society Bank

Michael Ellis: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what progress has been made on the implementation of the Big Society Bank.

Nick Hurd: We are making excellent progress in establishing Big Society Capital group (formerly referred to as the "Big Society Bank"). In December we received State Aid clearance from the European Commission and we are moving swiftly through the FSA authorisation process.
	During the process of establishing Big Society Capital (BSC), the interim Investment Committee has been making the kinds of investments in intermediaries that we expect BSC to make. To date it has announced in principle investments of £3.5 million.
	Big Society Capital is on track to be open for business by spring of this year.

Civil Servants

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what his policy is for the payment of civil servants for their attendance at networking events; whether any civil servants have received such payments; and if he will instigate an investigation into any such payments.

Nick Hurd: The Civil Service Code is clear that civil servants must not accept gifts or hospitality or receive other benefits from anyone which might reasonably be seen to compromise their personal judgment or integrity. I am not aware of cases of civil servants personally receiving payments from external organisations for their attendance at networking events, but any such issues would be handled by individual Departments.

Departmental Travel

Maria Eagle: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether his Department has agreed any contracts with (a) private hire vehicle and (b) taxi companies since May 2010.

Nick Hurd: Since May 2010 the Cabinet Office has agreed one contract for the provision of private hire vehicles. This contract is with Enterprise Rent-A-Car UK Ltd. Cabinet Office has not agreed any other contracts with private hire vehicles or taxi companies.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Departmental Recruitment

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much his Department spent on recruitment agencies in each month since September 2011.

Bob Neill: Departmental records show no expenditure with recruitment agencies between September and December 2011.

Derelict Land

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate his Department has made of the amount of previously developed land suitable for housing development in (a) England, (b) each region and (c) each local planning authority area in each of the last 10 years.

Bob Neill: Estimates for the amount of previously developed land suitable for housing development in England, the regions and each local planning authority for 2003-09 inclusive are given in a table that has been deposited in the Library of the House. However, these estimates include private residential gardens which until 2010 were covered by the definition of previously-developed land. In June 2010 Ministers announced changes to PPS3, excluding private residential gardens from the definition.
	The information is taken from the National Land Use Database of Previously-Developed Land. The figures are as reported by local authorities and make no allowance for missing or incomplete data.

Housing: Armed Forces

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what financial support his Department is providing to local authorities of garrison towns to ensure that there is sufficient quality housing available to soldiers made redundant as a result of implementation of the Strategic Defence Security Review; what steps he is taking to mitigate the potential effects for those on social housing waiting lists; and if he will make a statement.

Grant Shapps: I am determined to help current and former members of the armed forces gain the housing they deserve. Last year I held a Military Covenant Housing summit to discuss how we could ensure that housing was a priority for people who returned from active service for this country.
	Among the various measures being taken, we are giving service personnel top priority for Government-funded home ownership schemes, including FirstBuy, and providing disabled facilities grant funding so that home adaptations can enable disabled ex-service personnel to live independently.
	Our housing strategy includes determined and radical measures to help everyone get the home they need. On 1 February I informed the House of progress, including work towards identifying land for 100,000 new homes, and details of the NewBuy guarantee scheme.
	We are also consulting on plans to change the law so that former personnel with urgent housing needs are always given high priority for social housing. Additionally, we are consulting on new statutory social allocations guidance for local councils, setting out how their allocation schemes can give priority to current or ex-service personnel, including through the use of local preference criteria and local lettings policies. The guidance also reiterates local authorities' responsibility for addressing the housing needs of all residents and encourages them to make use of the existing flexibilities within the allocation legislation to ensure that social homes go to people who need and deserve them the most.
	1 recently wrote to all MPs summarising the various measures that we are introducing to ensure that serving and ex-service personnel receive top priority for housing help.

Local Government: Property

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he has issued guidance to local authorities on the disposal of vacant and disused local authority-owned properties.

Andrew Stunell: The Department has not issued guidance to local authorities on the disposal of their vacant and disused properties as these are matters for local decision. But we of course encourage local authorities to promote regeneration and development when undertaking disposals.
	If a local authority wishes to dispose of land not held for housing purposes at less than best consideration for a scheme that will contribute to the promotion or improvement of the economic, social or environmental well-being of an area, they may do so provided that they obtain the Secretary of State's consent. The Local Government Act 1972, General Disposal Consent 2003, contained in ODPM Circular 06/2003 enables local authorities to make such disposals, provided the undervalue does not exceed £2 million. If the proposed disposal was not covered by the general consent the local authority would have to apply to the Secretary of State for a specific disposal consent.
	Land held for housing purposes is subject to a separate consent regime. We have just finished seeking views on our proposal that local authorities should not require specific consent to dispose of vacant land or vacant properties at market value. The Government hope to publish their response to this consultation soon. We have not however issued guidance on local authorities' housing disposal strategies.
	We are funding the Asset Transfer Unit to promote best practice across England and provide advice and expertise to local authorities and communities on matters relating to asset transfer to community ownership and management. The Asset Transfer Unit also managed the recently completed Advancing Assets for Communities demonstration programme which has supported the development of local asset transfer strategies, policies and procedures aimed at communities taking over local authority assets, by providing tailored support to 92 local authority/community partnerships.
	The new community rights contained in the Localism Act will give communities the opportunities to influence development in their areas, bid to buy local assets that are important to them and bid to run local services differently and better. We are currently procuring for an expert delivery agent(s) to deliver a three-year programme to support communities that want to take up these rights. The Community Right to Reclaim Land also enables communities to get underused public property back in use.

Local Government: Voluntary Organisations

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of expenditure by each local authority (a) overall and (b) per head of population on grants to voluntary organisations in each of the last 10 years.

Bob Neill: The Department for Communities and Local Government does not hold this information for all local authorities. The new local government transparency code requires councils to publish details of grants to the voluntary sector, as well as contracts and tenders over £500.

Non-domestic Rates

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what consideration he has given to exempting renewable energy sources when assessing the business rate level for commercial properties.

Bob Neill: A temporary exemption from rating is available for certain items of micro generation equipment. The exemption applies up to the next revaluation after the equipment has been installed. Therefore, microgeneration plant and machinery, including micro wind turbines and small-scale solar or photovoltaic cells, installed now will not pay rates until the next revaluation due to come into force on 1 April 2015.
	We have no plans to widen this exemption to other types of renewable technology but from 1 April 2012 local authorities will have a general power to offer discounts to ratepayers as they see fit.

Social Rented Housing

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps his Department is taking to provide new social rented housing in (a) South Lakeland, (b) Cumbria and (c) England.

Andrew Stunell: Through the new affordable homes programme and commitments from previous programmes, the Homes and Communities Agency currently expects to deliver 148 affordable homes in South Lakeland and 1,196 affordable homes in Cumbria between April 2011 and April 2015. These figures may change subject to signing remaining contracts with providers.
	Overall, with our total investment of £4.5 billion, we expect to provide up to 170,000 new affordable homes between 2011 and 2015, compared to 150,000 originally estimated.

Sustainable Communities Act 2007

Hazel Blears: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the desirability of setting a time limit for Government responses to proposals submitted under the provisions of the Sustainable Communities Act 2007;
	(2)  when he expects his Department to publish its response to the consultation on regulation under the Sustainable Communities Act 2007;
	(3)  how many responses were received to his Department's consultation on regulation under the Sustainable Communities Act 2007;
	(4)  when he plans to bring forward proposals for regulations under the provisions of the Sustainable Communities Act 2007 (Amendment) Act 2010;
	(5)  what steps he is taking to establish the right for parish and town councils to submit proposals under the Sustainable Communities Act 2007.

Greg Clark: The Government are considering the scope of the regulations under the Sustainable Communities Act 2007 following the consultation exercise conducted last year. We are aiming to make the regulations shortly. A summary of responses will be published in due course.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Broadband Delivery UK: Consultants

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how much Broadband Delivery UK spent on consultants in 2010-11; and what estimate he has made of such spending in 2011-12.

Edward Vaizey: In 2010-11 Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) spent £673,000 on consultants. Spend on consultants for the whole of the year 2011-12 is expected to be approximately £4 million.

Broadband Delivery UK: Consultants

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how many KPMG contractors or consultants worked for Broadband Delivery UK in the latest period for which figures are available.

Edward Vaizey: holding answer 31 January 2012
	Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) currently has 12 KPMG consultants working on the Rural Broadband Programme and three working on the Mobile Mast Programme.

Broadband Delivery UK: Local Government

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how many local authorities attended a Broadband Delivery UK local authority engagement meeting in the last year; and which local authority in each such case.

Edward Vaizey: holding answer 31 January 2012
	Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) has organised six local authority events between July 2011 and January 2012, at which there were a total of 357 local authority attendees. A breakdown of this information is set out in the following table:
	
		
			 Date of event Local authority attendees 
			 July 2011 80 
			 September 2011 32 
			 October 2011 65 
			 November 2011 57 
			 December 2011 54 
			 January 2012 69 
			 Total 357 
		
	
	A list of local authorities that were represented at each event is shown in the following table, except for the first event in July 2011. We can confirm there were 60 attendees at this event, but no data is available on the breakdown of local authorities representatives that were present.
	
		
			 BDUK local authority events: 
			  Local authority 
			 September 2011 Bath and North East Somerset 
			  Buckinghamshire 
			  Calderdale 
			  Cambridgeshire 
			  Central Bedfordshire 
			  Cheshire East 
		
	
	
		
			  Derby 
			  Derbyshire 
			  Dorset 
			  Durham 
			  East Riding 
			  Essex 
			  Hampshire 
			  Hertfordshire 
			  Kent 
			  Kirklees 
			  Knowsley 
			  Leicestershire 
			  Lincolnshire 
			  Manchester 
			  Milton Keynes 
			  Norfolk 
			  North Lincolnshire 
			  Northamptonshire 
			  Northumberland 
			  Nottinghamshire 
			  Oxfordshire 
			  Peterborough 
			  Reading 
			  Shropshire 
			  South Cambridgeshire 
			  South Gloucestershire 
			  Stafford 
			  Staffordshire 
			  Suffolk 
			  Tees Valley 
			  Warwickshire 
			  West Berkshire 
			  West Sussex 
			  Wiltshire 
			  Worcestershire 
			   
			 October 2011 Bedford 
			  Calderdale 
			  Cambridgeshire 
			  Central Bedfordshire 
			  Cheshire East 
			  Cheshire West 
			  Coventry 
			  Cumbria 
			  Darlington 
			  Derby 
			  Derbyshire 
			  Durham 
			  East Riding 
			  Essex 
			  Halton 
			  Hampshire 
			  Herefordshire 
		
	
	
		
			  Hertfordshire 
			  Kent 
			  Kirklees 
			  Leeds 
			  Leicestershire 
			  Lincolnshire 
			  Manchester 
			  North Lincolnshire 
			  North Yorkshire 
			  Northamptonshire 
			  Northumberland 
			  Nottinghamshire 
			  Oxfordshire 
			  Rutland 
			  Shropshire 
			  South Gloucestershire 
			  Suffolk 
			  Surrey 
			  Tees Valley 
			  Warrington 
			  Warwickshire 
			  West Sussex 
			  Worcestershire 
			   
			 November 2011 Basingstoke 
			  Berkshire 
			  Birmingham 
			  Central Bedfordshire 
			  Chelmsford 
			  Cheshire East 
			  Cheshire West 
			  Derby 
			  Derbyshire 
			  Devon 
			  East Riding 
			  East Sussex 
			  Gloucestershire 
			  Hampshire 
			  Herefordshire 
			  Hertfordshire 
			  Huntingdonshire 
			  Kent 
			  Kirklees 
			  Leicestershire 
			  Leicestershire and Rutland Community Council 
			  Leicestershire County Council 
			  Lincolnshire 
			  Manchester 
			  North East Lincolnshire 
			  North Lincolnshire 
			  North Yorkshire 
			  Northamptonshire 
		
	
	
		
			  Northumberland 
			  Oxfordshire 
			  Rutland 
			  South Gloucestershire 
			  Shropshire 
			  Somerset 
			  Staffordshire 
			  Suffolk 
			  Surrey County Council 
			  Warwickshire 
			  West Sussex 
			  Wiltshire 
			  Worcestershire 
			   
			 December 2011 Bedford 
			  Birmingham 
			  Cambridgeshire 
			  Central Bedfordshire 
			  Cheshire 
			  Cheshire East 
			  Colchester 
			  Derbyshire 
			  Dorset 
			  Durham 
			  East Sussex 
			  Hampshire 
			  Hertfordshire 
			  Kent 
			  Kirklees 
			  Leicestershire 
			  Lincolnshire 
			  Manchester 
			  North Lincolnshire 
			  Norfolk 
			  Northamptonshire 
			  Northumberland 
			  Nottinghamshire 
			  Oxfordshire 
			  Rutland 
			  South Cambridgeshire 
			  South Gloucestershire 
			  Scottish Enterprise 
			  Shropshire 
			  Somerset 
			  Staffordshire 
			  Suffolk 
			  Warwickshire 
			  Wiltshire 
			  Worcestershire 
			   
			 January 2012 Bedford 
			  Cambridgeshire 
			  Central Bedfordshire 
		
	
	
		
			  Dorset 
			  Durham 
			  East Sussex 
			  Hertfordshire 
			  Kent 
			  Leeds 
			  Leicestershire 
			  Lincolnshire 
			  North Lincolnshire 
			  Northamptonshire 
			  Northumberland 
			  Nottinghamshire 
			  Oxfordshire 
			  Staffordshire 
			  Suffolk 
			  Surrey 
			  Warwickshire 
			  Worcestershire

Video Games

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what recent assessment he has made of the UK's competitive advantage in the video games sector.

Edward Vaizey: The UK games industry is the largest in Europe. Trade association Tiga's estimate for 2010 found the UK has some 9,000 highly-skilled games developers working in 278 games studios. This strength is further underpinned by the fact that most global games publishers have chosen to locate their European corporate headquarters in the UK, including Activision, Sony Computer Entertainment and Disney Interactive. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport's (DCMS) latest Creative Industries Estimate, published in December 2011, indicated that the UK's digital and entertainment media and software/electronic publishing sectors represented £400 million and £560 million gross value added (GVA) respectively in 2009.
	The "NextGen" review of games industry skills highlighted several areas where the UK is world class including particular centres of excellence in higher education games courses at universities in Dundee, Bournemouth and Brighton.
	The Government have already undertaken steps to support business sectors right across the economy. This includes reducing our main rate of corporation tax to 23% by 2014—making it the lowest rate in the G7 and the fifth lowest in the G20—increasing the scope and generosity of the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and Venture Capital Trust (VCT) schemes, and acting to minimise the regulatory burdens on small businesses.

DEFENCE

Armed Forces: Redundancy

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many soldiers based at Merville Barracks, Colchester Garrison, by battalion or other unit were issued with notice of compulsory redundancy in (a) September, (b) October, (c) November and (d) December 2011; how many were issued with notices during January 2012; and how many he expects to be issued with notices between February and July 2012 inclusive.

Andrew Robathan: A total of 13 personnel based at Merville Barracks, Colchester Garrison were selected for redundancy under tranche one of the redundancy scheme in September 2011. The 13 personnel are split across the following units: HQ 16 Air Assault Brigade; HQ Colchester Garrison; Equipment Care Inspection Team Colchester; 13 Air Assault Support Regiment Royal Logistic Corps; 7 Para Royal Horse Artillery and 16 Medical Regiment. The number of personnel selected at each unit is sufficiently small that National Statistics rounding conventions require it to be categorized as between one and five to prevent the inadvertent identification of individuals.
	There were no compulsory redundancy notices issued in October 2011, November 2011, December 2011 or January 2012. Tranche two of the armed forces redundancy programme was launched on 17 January 2012 and the outcome will not be known until June of this year. It is therefore too early to say at this stage how many notices will be issued between February and July 2012.

Departmental Drinks

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much (a) his Department and (b) its public bodies have spent on (i) wine, (ii) other alcoholic refreshments and (iii) bottled water since May 2010.

Andrew Robathan: The Ministry of Defence does not hold financial information in a form that allows us to identify expenditure on wine and alcohol separately from other expenditure and therefore this information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The provision of wine and other alcoholic refreshments at public expense is authorised only in exceptional circumstances and must be modest and appropriate in nature.
	Bottled water for service and civilian personnel at UK Defence establishments and permanent bases overseas is provided through multi-activity contracts with commercial partners and is not separately identified. In line with Government policy on sustainable procurement, however, we avoid providing bottled water where drinkable tap water is available.

Military Aircraft: Helicopters

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 14 February 2011, Official Report, column 646W, on military aircraft: helicopters, when he expects to publish the Rotary Wing Strategy; and if he will make a statement.

Peter Luff: The previous Government's Rotary Wing Strategy was outlined to Parliament in December 2009. Following the strategic defence and security review, we commissioned a review of the Rotary Wing Strategy to ensure that it was up to date and would effectively deliver Future Force 2020. This was known as the Defence Rotary Wing Capability Study.
	The Defence Rotary Wing Capability Study reported to the Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff in November 2011. The Vice-Chief asked for some further work to be done before the Study is finalized, and this work is currently in progress. Any major changes will be announced to Parliament in the usual way.

RAF Northolt

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when his Department will publish its plans for the future use of RAF Northolt.

Peter Luff: No decision has been made to change the use of RAF Northolt, although as with all Ministry of Defence assets we continue to scrutinise defence expenditure to ensure we get the best return for the taxpayer.

Turkey: Military Aircraft

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had with his NATO counterparts on the deployment of planes in Turkey in the last two months; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Harvey: There have been no such discussions.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Constituencies

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether he plans to bring forward proposals to increase the staffing budgets of hon. Members under his proposals to create fewer and larger constituencies from 2015.

Mark Harper: The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) is responsible for determining and administering the expenses scheme for Members. It will be for the IPSA to consider whether any changes are necessary as a result of the boundary review which will lead to fewer, more equally sized constituencies.

EDUCATION

Free School Meals

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many children were (a) registered to receive free school meals and (b) eligible to register, in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Nick Gibb: Information is not collected centrally on how many pupils are eligible for free school meals but do not claim.
	The available information on the number of pupils eligible for and claiming free school meals as at January 2011 is shown in the table.
	
		
			 Maintained nursery, state-funded primary, state-funded secondary and special schools, and pupil referral units (1,2,3,4) : Number of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals (5,6,7)  January 2011, England 
			  Number of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals (5,6) Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals (5,6) 
			 Maintained nursery and state-funded primary schools(1,2) 743,255 19.2 
			 State-funded secondary schools(1,3) 450,275 15.9 
			 Special schools(4) 28,830 36.5 
			 Pupil referral units 4,745 34.6 
			 Total(7) 1,227,110 18.0 
			 (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Includes primary academies. (3) Includes city technology colleges and secondary academies. (4) Includes maintained and non-maintained special schools; excludes general hospital schools. (5) Includes pupils who are sole or dual main registrations. Includes boarders. In pupil referral units includes pupils registered with other providers and further education colleges. (6) Includes pupils who have full-time attendance and are aged 15 or under, or pupils who have part-time attendance and are aged between 5 and 15 (age as at 31 August). (7) Includes maintained nursery, state-funded primary, state-funded secondary and special schools, and pupil referral units. Excludes pupils in alternative provision as full and part time status is not collected. Note:Pupil numbers have been rounded to the nearest 5. Source: School Census.

Free Schools: Finance

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 8 November 2011, Official Report, column 287W, on free schools: finance, if he will set a date on which the budget allocation for free schools for 2011-12 will be finalised.

Nick Gibb: The full funding allocation for free schools for 2011-12 is yet to be finalised and will depend, for example, on the final capital cost for each school.
	Revenue funding allocated to each of the 24 open free schools for the academic year 2011/12 is set out in my answer of 20 December 2011, Official Report, column 1218W.
	Annual revenue funding for free schools is equivalent to that received by maintained schools and academies in the same local authority area. Guidance on the methodology used to calculate revenue funding for free schools can be found on the Department's website at:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/leadership/typesofschools/freeschools/a0073853/advice-on-free-school-revenue-funding-201112

GCSE

Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many and what proportion of candidates for (a) each tiered GCSE subject and (b) tiered GCSE subjects in total entered for examinations set by (i) Edexcel, (ii) WJEC, (iii) OCA, (iv) AQA and (v) all examination boards at (A) foundation and (B) higher level were awarded each grade in (1) 2008-09 and (2) 2009-10.

Nick Gibb: The Department does not hold information on the examination tier for which individual candidates were entered.

Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will reform the national curriculum to include talks related to health advocacy and cancer awareness in personal social health and economic education lessons.

Nick Gibb: The current personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education non-statutory framework includes the importance of healthy lifestyles. It provides opportunities for pupils to discuss health issues that teachers identify as being relevant to them. This could include cancer awareness and health advocacy. Many schools also use external organisations to provide young people with information about cancer including how to seek professional advice.
	PSHE is not part of the National Curriculum which is designed to reflect the body of essential knowledge in key subjects. The Government are therefore reviewing the National Curriculum to give schools the freedom and space they need to teach a curriculum that engages their pupils.
	We are also reviewing PSHE education to identify the core body of knowledge that pupils need and to determine how we can support schools to improve the quality of all PSHE teaching. We will publish our proposals for public consultation later this year.

Science: GCSE

Chris Skidmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many secondary school pupils were entered only for the Single Science Award GCSE and no other science subjects in each of the last 10 years.

Nick Gibb: The information requested for the years 2008 to 2011 is given in the following table; other years can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			 Number of secondary school pupils entered only for Single Science Award GCSE and no other science subjects. Years: 2008-11. Coverage: England 
			  Number of pupils 
			 2008 80,543 
			 2009 72,664 
			 2010 58,317 
			 2011 42,082 
			 Notes: 1. Single science is taken to mean “Core Science” only and no other science award. 2. Data for 2008-10 are final, 2011 is revised. 3. Figures for 2011 include pupils in Alternative Provision, earlier years do not. 4. Figures do not take into account discounting where qualification content may overlap.

Science: GCSE

Chris Skidmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  how many schools with a specialism in science did not enter any pupils for GCSEs in (a) chemistry, (b) physics, (c) biology and (d) all three separate sciences in the last three years;
	(2)  in how many mainstream maintained schools no pupil was entered for three separate sciences at GCSE in the most recent academic year for which figures are available.

Nick Gibb: Following the announcement on 20 October 2010 regarding the specialist schools programme, by the Secretary of State for Education, the right hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), we removed the bureaucratic burden of schools designating or re-designating as specialist. From 1 April 2011, schools were no longer required to inform DFE of changes or additions to their specialism, therefore we only hold information on the specialism of schools in 2010 and earlier. The information requested is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Number of schools with a specialism in science (1)  not entering pupils for GCSES in chemistry, physics, biology and all three separate sciences (combined). Years: 2008-10 (Final). Coverage: England 
			  (a) Chemistry (b) Physics (c) Biology (d) All three separate sciences 
			 2008 120 120 110 123 
			 2009 97 98 91 99 
			 2010 27 27 26 27 
			 (1) As reported in the Secondary School Performance Tables in each year. Schools may have more than one specialism. 
		
	
	There were 550 mainstream maintained schools in which no pupils were entered for each of the three separate sciences in the 2010/11 academic year.

Science: GCSE

Chris Skidmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many pupils were entered for GCSEs in the three separate sciences in (a) 1997 and (b) the latest year for which figures are available.

Nick Gibb: The number of pupils that were entered for GCSEs in the three separate sciences in 1997 and 2011 is given as follows.
	
		
			 Pupils (thousand) 
			  Number of pupils (1)  entered for GCSEs (2)  in: 
			  Biological sciences Chemistry Physics 
			 1997 36.8 35.2 34.6 
			 2011(3) 133.7 132.0 131.1 
			 (1) In 1997, this was based on pupils aged 15 at the start of the academic year while in 2011 it was based on pupils at the end of Key Stage 4. (2) For each subject, only one attempt is counted—that which achieved the highest grade. This is including attempts by these pupils in previous academic years. (3) Figures for 2011 include pupils in Alternative Provision, earlier years do not. Source: 1997 Statistical Volume 'Public Examinations GCSE/GNVQ and GCE in England' and Statistical First Release 'GCSE and Equivalent Results in England, 2010/11 (Revised)' available at the following link: http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s001056/index.shtml

Science: GCSE

Chris Skidmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of pupils were entered for three separate sciences at GCSE in (a) comprehensive schools, (b) selective schools and (c) independent schools in (i) 1997 and (ii) 2001.

Nick Gibb: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 22 November 2010, Official Report, column 93W; which contains figures for chemistry and physics. The following table gives figures on the same basis for biological sciences in the years requested. Figures have been based on pupils aged 15 at the start of the academic year.
	
		
			 Number and percentage of pupils entering GCSE biological sciences by school type. Years: 1997, 2001 (final). Coverage: England 
			 Biological sciences Number of pupils entering GCSE Percentage of pupils entering GCSE 
			 School type 1997 2001 1997 2001 
			 Comprehensive 13,330 16,955 2.9 3.4 
			 Selective 5,640 6,818 27.7 32.5 
			 Independent 17,537 16,429 41.9 37.3 
			 Source: Secondary School and College Performance Tables.

Science: GCSE

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he plans to reply to the letter of 9 January 2012 from the headteacher of Twynham School on anomalies and inconsistencies in the treatment of science GCSE in Table 4.1.25 in the Raise Online performance tool.

Nick Gibb: holding answer 24 January 2012
	We replied to this letter on 26 January 2012.

Secondary Education: Literacy

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what measures are in place to ensure that secondary school pupils with literacy difficulties are identified early and receive adequate support; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: Primary schools transfer information about each pupil's educational attainment, as well as about any special educational needs, to the pupil's secondary school. It is the responsibility of secondary schools to assess the needs of all pupils when they arrive and to provide them with the support they need to progress.

Teachers: Suicide

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what information his Department holds on the number of teachers who committed suicide in each year for which figures are available.

Nick Gibb: The information requested is not collected centrally.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Carbon Emissions

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the potential carbon dioxide savings resulting from the introduction of the Green Deal.

Gregory Barker: The Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation (ECO) consultation was published on 23 November 2011. The Government's assessment of the impact of these policies was published in the accompanying Draft Impact Assessment:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/11/consultation/green-deal/3603-green-deal-eco-ia.pdf
	Under the central policy scenario in this assessment, the total CO2 savings over the lifetime of the installed measures was estimated at 114MtCO2 and 53 MtCO2 for non-traded and traded savings respectively.
	Traded carbon emissions are those covered by the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, which covers electricity generation and some industrial processes. Energy savings in properties with electric heating therefore leads to a saving in traded CO2 emissions, while energy savings in properties with non-electric heating systems leads to savings in non-traded CO2 emissions.

Carbon Emissions

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he plans to modify the inputs of his Department's 2050 emissions calculator in line with technological advances.

Gregory Barker: The 2050 calculator
	http://2050-calculator-tool.decc.gov.uk
	enables users to examine different ways of reducing UK greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050. It was first published in July 2010 as a call for evidence. Following over 100 responses to the call for evidence, an updated and improved version of the calculator was published in March 2011 taking on board stakeholder feedback received. Since then, costs and air quality analysis has been incorporated into the tool; this was re-published in December 2011 as a call for evidence.
	The calculator is a constantly evolving tool, which Government have committed to update regularly to reflect the latest scientific and economic evidence. Users are encouraged to critique and improve the new costs and air quality analysis by 8 March 2012 via a wiki website
	http://2050-calculator-tool-wiki.decc.gov.uk
	The Government are trialling this wiki as a means of facilitating feedback, and as an example of open-source policy-making. If it is successful, we may extend it to invite ongoing feedback on the areas where technological advances warrant reconsideration of the trajectories and underlying assumptions in the 2050 calculator.

Carbon Emissions: Housing

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the cost per household per year of achieving the UK's carbon reduction target for 2050.

Gregory Barker: DECC recently published a revised 2050 calculator designed to support users in exploring the costs of achieving the UK's carbon reduction target for 2050, available at:
	http://2050-calculator-tool.decc.gov.uk/
	It also published information on four plausible pathways to 2050 alongside HMG's Carbon Plan. The costs shown are the “total energy system costs”, and include the costs of everything from power stations and industrial processes, to cars, planes and trains and the fuel they use, to gas boilers and cavity wall insulation in homes and workplaces. As such, they are far more wide-ranging than household energy bills and absolutely not comparable with them.
	The following table shows the total energy system costs per person per year for the period 2010-50 for each of these four pathways relative to a scenario in which no action is taken to constrain emissions. They do not take into account the costs of failing to tackle climate change. A negative number represents lower costs relative to the scenario in which no action is taken. The table illustrates that a pathway that tackles climate change in a cost-effective way could be expected to be cheaper in cost (on central projections) than failing to tackle climate change, while also bringing climate and security benefits.
	
		
			 £ 
			 Pathway Low fossil fuel prices Central fossil fuel prices High fossil fuel prices 
			 Core MARKAL (least cost) 87 -84 -263 
			 Higher renewables and more energy efficiency 545 367 182 
			 Higher nuclear and less energy efficiency 678 498 317 
			 Higher CCS and more bioenergy 623 469 308 
		
	
	More detail on these pathways can be found in Part 1 and Annex A of the Carbon Plan, available at:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/emissions/carbon_budgets/carbon_budgets.aspx
	and from the 2050 Calculator web tool:
	http://2050-calculator-tool.decc.gov.uk/

Central Heating

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  what research his Department has undertaken on the role of next generation electric storage heaters in decarbonising heating;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to encourage the uptake of next generation electric storage heaters to contribute to his aim of reduced energy use; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: The Department has recently completed its strategic analysis of heat options, and will be publishing a strategy document soon. Direct electric heating including storage heating has been considered as part of that analysis.

Competition

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the oral answer of 26 January 2012, Official Report, column 403, on competition, what steps he has taken to reduce the administrative burden on small suppliers.

Gregory Barker: In December 2011 the Government increased the customer number threshold at which suppliers are obliged to participate in the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target and the Community Energy Saving Programme from 50,000 to 250,000. This means that no small suppliers will be required to participate for the remainder of these schemes.
	In addition we have set the threshold for mandatory participation in the Warm Home Discount Scheme at 250,000 customers.
	We are consulting on a similar threshold for the new energy company obligation alongside proposals to mitigate the “cliff edge effect” once suppliers reach the threshold.
	We are also proposing to give suppliers with fewer than 250,000 customers the choice of opting in or out of administering Green Deal payments.

Departmental Credit Cards

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the (a) transaction date, (b) amount and (c) description was for all purchases made by Ministers, special advisors and officials in his Department on departmental credit cards between May 2010 and December 2011.

Gregory Barker: The Department has published on its website the information requested for transactions over £500 made using departmental Government procurement cards between April and October 2011. The Department will publish this information for 2010-11 before 31 March 2012.
	Going forward, the Department will publish this information for transactions over £500 on a monthly basis.
	The information can be found through the following link:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/accesstoinform/expenditure/spend_over_500/spend_over_500.aspx

Departmental Manpower

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the (a) job title and (b) pay grade is of each member of staff in the private office of the (i) Minister of State for Climate Change and (ii) Minister of State for Energy.

Gregory Barker: The following table shows the details of staffing in each private office.
	
		
			 Grade Title Number 
			 Minister of State for Climate Change   
			 Grade 7 Senior Private Secretary 1 
			 Higher Executive Officer (HEO)/Fast Stream Private Secretary 2 
			 Executive Office (EO) Diary Manager 1 
			 Administrative Officer (Part time) Office Manager 1 
			    
			 Minister of State for Energy   
			 Grade 7 Senior Private Secretary 1 
			 HEO Private Secretary 2 
			 EO Diary Manager 1

Energy

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  with which organisations he has discussed the UK's energy efficiency targets;
	(2)  what discussions he has had with existing providers of insulation measures on the UK's energy efficiency targets.

Gregory Barker: The Department has regular contact with a range of organisations with an interest in the UK's current and proposed energy efficiency programmes, including the GB-wide Carbon Emissions Reduction Target, the Community Energy Saving Programme and the emerging Green Deal. Organisations include energy suppliers, companies involved in the supply chain such as the insulation industry, trade organisations, NGOs, consumer representatives and other interested parties.
	We have also received many relevant views, including from representatives of the insulation industry, as part of the recent public consultation on the Green Deal.

Energy: Meters

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he has any plans to issue guidance for the safe use of smart meters, including on the effects of electromagnetic radiation.

Charles Hendry: Telecommunication technologies used in deploying smart meters will have to comply with relevant regulations and international standards as set out by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP).
	The ICNIRP guidelines are based on a critical in-depth evaluation of the established scientific literature and represent the international consensus about this evidence. In addition, the current view of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the European Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks is that there is no consistent evidence of adverse health effects occurring at levels within the ICNIRP exposure guidelines.
	We will continue to work with the Department of Health and the HPA to keep the evidence base under review.

Energy: Meters

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he has any plans to ensure that information on potential health effects is included with smart meters.

Charles Hendry: We are currently considering what information, and methods of communication, will be most useful to consumers in understanding how smart meters work, and in addressing a range of questions, including in relation to concerns about potential health effects.
	This will be a part of our consumer engagement strategy, on which we will be consulting in the spring.

Energy: Prices

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the effect on new entrants in the energy retail market use of loss-leading online energy tariffs.

Charles Hendry: I am concerned that significant introductory discounts offered by some suppliers may make it more difficult for new entrants to compete and have already raised the matter with Ofgem.
	I have asked the chief executive of Ofgem to write to the hon. Member and we will place a copy of his letter in the Libraries of the House.

Environment Protection: Manpower

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the number of people employed in the insulation industry in (a) 2011, (b) 2012 and (c) 2013.

Gregory Barker: DECC is not in a position to answer this question as this Department does not hold official employment statistics.
	Where DECC policies are expected to affect employment, analysis is contained in the relevant Impact Assessment.

Feed-in Tariffs

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the oral answer of 26 January 2012, Official Report, column 4081, on feed-in tariff for solar photovoltaic, whether he plans to instigate an inquiry into the handling of the proposals to reduce feed-in tariffs.

Gregory Barker: The Department has already commissioned a review of lessons for the future.

Feed-in Tariffs

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what plans he has for the future of the feed-in tariff for small-scale hydropower.

Gregory Barker: We will be publishing a consultation by 9 February which will consider other aspects of the feed-in tariffs scheme for non-PV technologies including the tariffs for small-scale hydropower. It will also consider proposals to make the FITs scheme more intelligent and responsive to change, to remove the need for stop-start reviews and provide greater transparency, longevity and certainty to the industry.

Fuel Poverty

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the number of households likely to be in fuel poverty in (a) December 2012, (b) December 2013, (c) December 2014 and (d) December 2015.

Gregory Barker: The latest fuel poverty statistics relate to 2009 and were published in November 2011. In this annual report, projections for the next two years were published. The projection for 2010 shows there are likely to be around 4 million households in fuel poverty in England, and 4.1 million in 2011. Annual figures for 2010 will be published in May along with projections for 2012.

Fuel Poverty: Hendon

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many households in (a) Hendon constituency, (b) London and (c) the UK are in fuel poverty.

Gregory Barker: In 2009, the most recent year for which data are available, the number of households in fuel poverty for these areas was as follows:
	
		
			 Area Number of households in fuel poverty 
			 (a) Hendon constituency 5,400 
			 (b) London 402,000 
			 (c) UK 3,964,000

Infrastructure: Capital Investment

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps his Department plans to take to encourage private sector capital investment in its infrastructure investment programme.

Charles Hendry: The National Infrastructure Plan 2011 sets outs the actions which the Government are taking to support private sector capital investment in the energy sector, working closely with industry and the regulator.
	The National Infrastructure Plan is available at:
	http://cdn.hm-treasury.gov.uk/national_infrastructure_plan291111.pdf

Natural Gas: Exploration

Michael Ellis: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what proportion of energy is generated using shale gas produced in the UK; and whether he has plans to increase this proportion.

Charles Hendry: There is currently no energy generation from shale gas in the UK. Exploration for shale gas in the UK has only recently started and it will be some years before the prospects for commercial production can be properly assessed.
	As with all other indigenous oil and gas, the Government support industry's endeavours to develop these resources where economically viable, providing this can be done safely and with full regard to the protection of the environment.

Nuclear Power

Michael Ellis: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he has taken to protect nuclear power stations from cyber attack by foreign governments.

Charles Hendry: All security arrangements for the protection of UK nuclear sites are kept under constant review as part of a continuous process to ensure arrangements are robust and effective. Operators are required to have security plans in place which are approved by the regulator. These arrangements would be reviewed in response to any change in threat level. For national security reasons, Ministers do not comment on specific operational security matters.

Photovoltaics

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the oral answer of 26 January 2012, Official Report, column 392, on photovoltaics, what recent estimate his Department has made of the average cost to households of meeting the proposed energy efficiency standard.

Gregory Barker: The Government's recent consultation, and supporting impact assessment, on feed-in tariffs for solar photovoltaics included illustrative examples of the costs of meeting the proposed energy efficiency requirement. The consultation closed on 23 December and we have been carefully analysing all responses received. We will shortly be publishing the Government's response to the consultation, and an updated impact assessment.

Warm Front Scheme

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many applications for a Warm Front grant were (a) accepted and (b) rejected in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12.

Gregory Barker: The number of Warm Front applications accepted and rejected in 2010-11 and 2011-12 is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Scheme year Applications accepted Applications rejected 
			 2010-11 122,798 103,721 
			 2011-12(1) 32,191 20,805 
			 (1 )Figures up to 31 December 2011.

Warm Home Discount Scheme

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps his Department is taking to provide information to people eligible for the warm homes discount rebate.

Gregory Barker: There are two discounts payable under the warm home discount scheme; the core group and the broader group discounts, both worth £120 in 2011-12. Additionally, this year, suppliers are also providing support through discounted tariffs. General information on the scheme is available on the DECC website at
	www.decc.gov.uk/warmhome
	which also provides links to relevant suppliers' websites.
	The warm home discount scheme uses data from the Department for Work and Pensions to identify a core group of pension credit recipients who may be eligible for the core group discount. All of these customers will receive a letter about the scheme.
	Before Christmas 2011, the Government sent out around 600,000 letters to pension credit customers advising them that their electricity supplier would award an automatic discount to their electricity account. A further 300,000 letters will be sent out by February to pension credit customers asking them to contact the scheme's call-centre to check their eligibility for the core group discount. More information on the core group discount can be found at
	www.direct.gov.uk/warmhome
	The energy suppliers participating in the scheme are responsible for publicising the availability of their broader group discount schemes.

Wind Power

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many applications for the construction of commercial wind turbines have been (a) received and (b) approved in (i) Metropolitan borough of Solihull, (ii) Highland council area, (iii) Chiltern local government district, (iv) Scottish Borders council area and (v) Shropshire unitary authority since May 2010.

Charles Hendry: DECC publishes information on its Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD)(1 )which tracks the progress of renewable electricity projects through the planning system and is updated on a monthly basis.
	The latest REPD data (December 2011) shows that no commercial wind turbine applications have been made or approved since May 2010 by the local planning authorities of Solihull metropolitan borough council, Chiltern district council or Shropshire council. Eight applications have been received and four approved since May 2010 by the Highland council. Nine applications have been received and one approved by the Scottish Borders council.
	(1 )https://restats.decc.gov.uk/cms/planning-database/

Wind Power

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many applications for the construction of commercial wind turbines have been (a) received and (b) approved in (i) Waverley local government district, (ii) Birmingham metropolitan borough, (iii) London borough of Wandsworth, (iv) borough of Brentwood and (v) borough of Eastleigh since May 2010.

Charles Hendry: DECC publishes information on its Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD)(l), which tracks the progress of renewable electricity projects through the planning system and is updated on a monthly basis.
	The latest REPD data (December 2011) show that no commercial wind turbine applications have been made or approved since May 2010 by the local planning authorities of Waverley borough council, Birmingham city council, Wandsworth borough council, Brentwood borough council or Eastleigh borough council.
	(1) https://restats.decc.gov.uk/cms/planning-database/

Wind Power

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many applications for the construction of commercial wind turbines have been (a) received and (b) approved in (i) South Cambridgeshire local government district, (ii) Surrey Heath local government district, (iii) London borough of Waltham Forest, (iv) London borough of Richmond, (v) Runnymede local government district and (vi) West Oxfordshire local government district since May 2010.

Charles Hendry: DECC publishes information on its Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD)(1), which tracks the progress of renewable electricity projects through the planning system and is updated on a monthly basis.
	The latest REPD data (December 2011) show that no commercial wind turbine applications have been made or approved since May 2010 by the local planning authorities of South Cambridgeshire district council, Surrey Heath borough council, London borough of Waltham Forest, London borough of Richmond, Runnymede borough council or West Oxfordshire district council.
	(1) https://restats.decc.gov.uk/cms/planning-database/

Wind Power

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many applications for the construction of commercial wind turbines have been (a) received and (b) approved in (i) Royal borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, (ii) borough of Rushcliffe, (iii) Cheshire East unitary authority, (iv) Richmondshire local government district and (v) Hambleton local government district and (vi) Sheffield metropolitan borough since May 2010.

Charles Hendry: DECC publishes information on its Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD)(1), which tracks the progress of renewable electricity projects through the planning system and is updated on a monthly basis.
	The latest REPD data (December 2011) show that no commercial wind turbines applications have been made or approved since May 2010 by the local planning authorities of Windsor and Maidenhead royal borough council, Rushcliffe borough council, Cheshire East council, Richmondshire district council or Sheffield city council. One application has been received (0.15 MW) and one approved since May 2010 by Hambleton district council.
	(1) https://restats.decc.gov.uk/cms/planning-database/

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Basking Sharks: Conservation

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the likely effect of Marine Conservation Zones on the protection of basking sharks in UK waters.

Richard Benyon: DEFRA is commissioning an independent review of the current science on the merits of protecting mobile species through Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs), and an assessment of the extent to which the regional project recommendations support the protection of mobile species and birds. Basking sharks will be included in that study, which will be published on completion.

Biodiversity: British Overseas Territories

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her Department is taking to improve biodiversity conservation in the British Overseas Territories.

Richard Benyon: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to the hon. Member for Brent North (Barry Gardiner) on 21 November 2011, Official Report, column 194W.
	However, I would add that in November 2011, at the 2011 Overseas Territories Consultative Council, I announced funding of £394,000 towards four new projects in the Overseas Territories. These comprise a project to eradicate invasive mice from Gough Island; a project to look at the effects of large marine reserves on pelagic, migratory species in the Chagos Island Marine Reserve; and two projects addressing the decline of albatross and petrel populations.
	The DEFRA submission to the Prime Minister, referred to in the previous answer, has now been published on the DEFRA website, and it includes inter alia a commitment to elaborate an implementation plan for the UK Government Strategy for Biodiversity in the Overseas Territories.

Biodiversity: Crown Dependencies

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much her Department spent on biodiversity conservation in the Crown dependencies in each of the last five years.

Richard Benyon: Nature conservation within the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies is the responsibility of the Governments of those Territories. The Overseas Territories Governments are supported by DEFRA, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development while those in the Crown Dependencies are supported by the Ministry of Justice. The Joint Nature Conservation Committee has a role to advise and support this process, working closely with the Territories and Government Departments.
	DEFRA spend on biodiversity conservation in the Crown Dependencies in each of the last five years is set out in the following table:
	
		
			  Expenditure (£) 
			 2007-08 (1)— 
			 2008-09 (1)— 
			 2009-10 (1)— 
			 2010-11 5,000 
			 2011-12 13,000 
			 (1) Indicates figures are negligible.

Common Fisheries Policy

Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she plans to have with her Spanish counterpart on their respective positions on Common Fisheries Policy reform aimed at sustaining fish stocks and fishing communities.

Richard Benyon: Following the recent general election in Spain, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Meriden (Mrs Spelman), has invited Sr Miguel Arias Canete, the new Spanish Secretary of State for Agriculture, Food and Environment to discuss the reform of both the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and the Common Agricultural Policy.
	As the UK Minister for Natural Environment and Fisheries, I will continue to press our case for reform of the CFP with my ministerial colleagues from other EU member states, including Spain, as well as with the EU Commission and European Parliament.

Departmental Work Experience

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what guidelines her Department issued to its non-departmental bodies on the employment of unpaid interns prior to July 2011.

Richard Benyon: Core DEFRA issued guidance to its non-departmental public bodies in June 2011 which made clear that the employment of unpaid interns is not permitted.

Environment Protection: Seas and Oceans

Fiona O'Donnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment she has made of progress towards meeting the targets and indicators to achieve Good Environmental Status in marine waters by July 2012 under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

Richard Benyon: The Marine Strategy Framework Directive requires member states to put in place measures to achieve Good Environmental Status (GES) in their marine waters by 2020. This is broken down into a number of stages that need to be implemented before 2020. These stages include the development of an initial assessment of a member state's marine waters (to be completed by 2012); deciding characteristics of GES and associated targets and indicators (again to be completed by 2012); the establishment of monitoring programmes to measure progress towards GES (by 2014), and the establishment of programmes of measures to achieve GES (by 2016).
	The UK Government and devolved Administrations plan to publish a public consultation shortly on the first stages of the implementation process. This will include a summary of the UK Initial Assessment and proposals for UK characteristics of GES and associated targets and indicators. The consultation will be accompanied by an impact assessment that analyses the potential costs and benefits to the UK of achieving the proposed targets for GES.

Environment Protection: Seas and Oceans

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what steps her Department is taking to promote cleaner oceans;
	(2)  what assessment she has made of her Department's progress towards dealing with threats to the UK's marine ecosystems;
	(3)  what plans her Department has to address the problem of the increasing amount of marine litter.

Richard Benyon: In 2010, the UK Marine Monitoring and Assessment Strategy Community (set up by the UK Government and the devolved Administrations) published Charting Progress 2, the result of a five-year study into how human use and other pressures, such as climate change, are affecting our seas, and the progress being made toward the UK marine vision of ‘clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse oceans and seas’. It draws on evidence gathered by scientists from marine agencies, research institutes, universities, environmental organisations and industries.
	Drawing on the conclusions from Charting Progress 2, we are implementing a package of policies to ensure that our seas are used sustainably. These include marine planning and marine conservation zones, and implementing European legislation such as the habitats and birds directives, the water framework directive and the marine strategy framework directive. The UK's approaches to reform of the common fisheries policy and domestic fisheries management reform are also part of our approach.
	The UK co-operates with other north-east Atlantic states under the OSPAR convention for the protection of the marine environment to address inputs to the sea of nutrients, hazardous substances and radioactive substances to the sea from land-based sources. OSPAR has also successfully regulated discharges of oil and other chemicals from the offshore industry. Work in other international frameworks that regulate the use of hazardous substances globally also contributes to clean oceans.
	Most marine litter is thought to arise from terrestrial sources. We are working to address the problem of litter generally through wider waste reduction strategies and through community based behavioural change activity led by Keep Britain Tidy. The problem of litter arising from activities at sea is addressed through the Responsible Fishing Scheme, administered through Seafish, and the implementation of the Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Pollution by Sewage and Garbage from Ships) Regulations.

Environment Protection: Seas and Oceans

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her assessment is of her Department's progress towards achieving its commitment to designating a fully coherent network of marine protected areas by 2012; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Benyon: The Government's plans for marine conservation zones were set out in a written ministerial statement on 15 November 2011, Official Report, column 35WS.
	The habitats directive and wild birds directive requires the designation of Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) to protect habitats and species listed under the habitats directive, and Special Protection Areas (SPAs) to protect wild birds as set out under the birds directive. Together SACs and SPAs contribute to the creation of a network of protected areas known as Natura 2000.
	In August 2010, the UK took a major step in completing the Natura 2000 network by putting forward a package of 15 marine sites to the European Commission for designation. Further sites were submitted to the Commission in 2011, including the Dogger Bank SAC, which became the largest marine protected area to be submitted to the European Commission by any member state.
	Consultations were also undertaken in 2011 for a further three offshore sites (Wight Barfleur reef, Pisces Reef Complex and Croker Carbonate Slabs) and an inshore site (Studland to Portland). These sites, together with others being pursued by the devolved Administrations, are expected to be transmitted to the Commission in 2012, and should complete the SAC network in UK waters.
	DEFRA is continuing to work with Natural England and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee to finalise plans to complete the identification of SPAs for birds in the English and UK offshore area (except in waters adjacent to Scotland) by the end of 2015. Nearly a quarter of English waters are now protected by European sites.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

British Overseas Territories: Governors

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department spent on ceremonial dress for governors of British Overseas Territories in each of the last 20 years.

Henry Bellingham: Since 2001, Overseas Territory governments have been responsible for deciding whether governors wear ceremonial dress and for funding uniforms. Bermuda, the Falkland Islands and Gibraltar opted to retain ceremonial dress. My Department has provided no funding. Where governors have a military background, as is often the case in Gibraltar, they have tended to use their own uniforms. Information on spending prior to 2001 is not immediately available and I will write to my hon. Friend separately with any information that we can make available.

Conflict Prevention

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to mainstream gender considerations in the implementation of the Building Stability Overseas Strategy.

Henry Bellingham: Action on Women, Peace and Security is a key element of our work on Building Stability Overseas as women have a central role in building stability and resolving conflict. In line with the Government's National Action Plan for UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, we will continue to tackle violence against women and support the role of women in building peace.
	A central approach of the Building Stability Overseas strategy has been to integrate conflict analysis and conflict resolution tools into the Government's assessment of and efforts to resolve conflicts in different regions and countries of the world. Part of that approach has involved raising officials’ and other stakeholders' consciousness of gender considerations in building stability and resolving conflict. To that end, the Government have circulated widely among their diplomatic posts abroad a Women Peace and Security Toolkit, aimed at helping posts develop country based activity on women, peace and security issues which supports overall stability and conflict resolution goals.
	We are working closely with civil society to organise at an early stage a workshop focused on the Building Stability Overseas strategy. This will contribute to ongoing work to set the Government's work on women, peace and security firmly within the context of the Building Stability Overseas strategy.
	The Revision of the National Action Plan for UN Security Council Resolution 1325 will be published in early 2012.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Elections

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the likely timing of provincial and local elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Henry Bellingham: Provincial assembly elections are scheduled to take place in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in March, however we expect that they will be delayed until later in the year. We will press the DRC electoral commission (CENI) to ensure that they use any delay to improve their processes and address the concerns over their performance during the presidential and national assembly elections. Local elections are due in 2013.

Departmental Manpower

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 20 December 2011, Official Report, column 1191W, on departmental manpower, how many of his Department's UK-based staff serving overseas have a speaker requirement at (a) confidence and (b) operational level; and how many of them are in receipt of additional remuneration which is linked to that qualification.

Henry Bellingham: There are approximately 120 overseas slots with a speaker requirement to confidence level and approximately 460 slots with a speaker requirement to operational level. Foreign and Commonwealth Office officers who have passed the relevant qualification at confidence level in less complex languages receive a one-off payment. Only those qualifying at confidence level in the hardest categories of languages are entitled to claim allowances for the duration of their overseas posting. As at 31 January 2012 approximately 20 officers at confidence level are in receipt of these allowances. At operational level, approximately 110 officers serving in overseas speaker slots are currently in receipt of these allowances. Others who pass their examinations during their posting will become eligible to apply for the relevant allowances at that point.

Departmental Manpower

Wayne David: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proportion of senior positions in his Department are held by women.

Henry Bellingham: As at 31 December 2011, the representation of women at the senior levels of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is 22%.

Departmental Travel

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether his Department has agreed any contracts with (a) private hire vehicle and (b) taxi companies since May 2010.

David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) agreed a contract for the provision of taxi and bus services on 1 April 2011 with Raffles Taxis, a company based in Milton Keynes where the FCO has offices. The benefits of this contract are that the FCO can save money via discounted rates. Bookings are consolidated leading to savings over multiple journeys and fares. The company provide the FCO with management information which enables monitoring of spend. In addition, the use of a managed contractor ensures safety for staff.
	FCO expenditure is incurred in accordance with the principles of Managing Public Money and the HM Treasury handbook on Regularity and Propriety.

Departmental Work Experience

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what work experience or traineeship schemes his Department offers to minority groups.

Henry Bellingham: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) offers work experience opportunities designed to attract a talented and diverse pool of candidates.
	In 2011, the FCO took part in the new Whitehall Internship programme and also the FCO ran its own summer work experience scheme for undergraduates, the Partner University Placement Scheme (PUPS). In 2011, PUPS was targeted at female undergraduates who had been under-represented in the FCO's Fast Stream intake. 20 interns were taken on under this scheme.
	The FCO is currently planning its work experience schemes for 2012 and details will be put on our website in due course:
	www.fco.gov.uk/careers

Diamond Jubilee 2012

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans his Department has for the celebration of Her Majesty the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

Henry Bellingham: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office will be working through our overseas network of posts to mark Her Majesty the Queen's Diamond Jubilee overseas. Like the London 2012 Games, the Diamond Jubilee is an opportunity to demonstrate the best of the UK to the world. We will work closely with the royal household. We are currently developing specific plans. In the UK, the Foreign Secretary’s annual reception for the diplomatic corps for the Queen's birthday will become a jubilee celebration.

Diplomatic Service: Females

Wayne David: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many (a) ambassadors and (b) high commissioners are women.

Henry Bellingham: As at 31 December 2011, 19% of our ambassadors are female and 22% of our high commissioners are female. The number of female heads of mission is currently at an all time high of 37, compared with 18 only five years ago.

Diplomatic Service: Manpower

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what criteria his Department applied in deciding whether to (a) retain, (b) upgrade, (c) localise and (d) abolish UK-based band A and B grade posts at UK embassies and high commissions.

Henry Bellingham: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), made it clear in a speech in London on 8 September that he intends to strengthen the long term capability and international effectiveness of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), and to improve our country's capacity to pursue effective foreign policy for years and even decades to come. The extension and strengthening of our global diplomatic network, with staff who have the necessary abilities and diplomatic skills, are key objectives of this Government and the FCO has made funding these goals a priority.
	By April 2014 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) will introduce new technology and change the way we support the work of our diplomats in our overseas missions. These changes will mean that in the majority of places we will no longer require UK-based staff to perform support activity. Over the same period we will reduce to a minimum the number of Band A and B jobs overseas. This will bring the FCO into line with other Government Departments and private sector organisations. This programme will save £23 million per year by April 2014. Those savings are not easy but they are essential. They will help us to live within the necessary financial constraints and to provide the diplomatic network we need for the future.
	No members of staff will be made compulsorily redundant as a result of this programme, with positions in the UK available to staff returning from overseas tours. We have brought forward an extensive package of learning and development opportunities for staff affected to address concerns raised about the impact of reduced overseas postings at these grades.
	Decisions on individual positions were taken by the FCO's Management Board in December. Positions were (a) retained where activity would still be required but could not be performed by locally engaged staff, for example because they could not easily gain a sufficient level of security clearance or would not get consular accreditation from the host Government. Positions were (b) upgraded in cases where the merging of a number of existing positions, either in one post or across a regional network, delivered an overall efficiency saving. Positions were (c) localised where activity would remain and there were no barriers to this being delivered by locally engaged staff and (d) eliminated where the activity currently undertaken would be eliminated by new technology and working practices.

Diplomatic Service: Manpower

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department plans to take to ensure the safety of locally- engaged staff in a UK embassy or high commission in the event of UK staff being evacuated.

Henry Bellingham: The safety of our staff is a priority. We will do what we reasonably can to ensure locally engaged staff are safe where we are forced to close or evacuate an embassy. Our course of action will differ according to the length of time that UK based staff are expected to be absent. Our general approach is not to ask staff to undertake any duties we judge would put them or their families at risk. When we envisage a prolonged period of closure, we will consider arrangements including duty of care oversight for locally engaged staff via third country embassies acting our behalf.

Diplomatic Service: Manpower

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many staff working in UK (a) embassies, (b) high commissions and (c) consulates are (i) female, (ii) black and ethnic minority and (iii) disabled.

Henry Bellingham: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office records the gender of all its UK based civil servants and locally engaged staff. We also strongly encourage UK based staff to make voluntary declarations of ethnic background (Black and Minority Ethnic (BME)) and disability. Not all staff choose to do so. The current overall declaration rate for ethnicity is some 80% while for disability it is around 30%. We do not ask locally engaged staff to declare ethnicity or disability.
	For ethnicity and disability, the number of UK based staff reported in the following table who are currently working overseas is, therefore, based on the sub-set of staff choosing to make a voluntary declaration and may not reflect the UK based work force as a whole.
	We do not record staff details by embassy, high commission or consulate and the information could be prepared only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  Total staff Female BME Disabled 
			 UK based 1,843 636 327 42 
			 Locally engaged 8,689 3,914 (1)— (1)— 
			 (1) No data Note: Figures are for 1 January 2012

Diplomatic Service: Manpower

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many staff currently based in the UK are (a) SMS, (b) A band, (c) B band, (d) C band and (e) D band; and how many staff in each such grade are (i) female, (ii) black and ethnic minority and (iii) disabled.

Henry Bellingham: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office records the gender of all its UK based civil servants. We also strongly encourage staff to make voluntary declarations of ethnic background (Black and Minority Ethnic (BME)) and disability. Not all staff choose to do so. The current overall declaration rate for ethnicity is some 80% while for disability it is around 30%. For ethnicity and disability, the number of staff reported in the following table who are currently working in the UK is, therefore, based on the sub-set of staff choosing to make a voluntary declaration and may not reflect the UK based work force as a whole.
	
		
			  Total staff Female BME Disabled 
			 A 607 362 138 42 
			 B 633 347 106 36 
		
	
	
		
			 C 737 333 52 41 
			 D 562 233 23 19 
			 SMS 147 45 8 6 
			 Total 2,686 1,320 327 144 
			 Note: Figures are for 1 January 2012

Employment Agencies

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 10 January 2012, Official Report, column 81W, on employment agencies, how much of the £26,128.14 spent on recruitment agencies was spent on agency (a) fees and (b) staff.

Henry Bellingham: Over the period covered by the answer of 10 January 2012, Official Report, column 81W, the external recruitment agencies involved broke down the costs to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as follows: (a) £19,978.14 on fees; and (b) £6,150 on staff.
	The figure on fees covers the set up costs of the recruitment campaigns and the costs for activities undertaken by the recruitment agency during the hiring process. The figure on staff reflects the total paid for personnel costs of the project teams at the recruitment agencies.
	The FCO uses recruitment agencies to attract the widest possible range of talented applicants. For specialist campaigns, agencies are better placed to target applicants with the most relevant skills within that sector. The use of agencies has proven to be more cost-effective than using in-house recruitment resources for those aspects of campaigns.
	All of the positions for which external recruitment campaigns were held during this period were approved for external recruitment as either business critical or a front line service, in accordance with the terms of the Government-wide recruitment freeze.

European Union: Treaties

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Deputy Prime Minister on the prospects for treaty change in the EU.

David Lidington: I have regular discussions with the Deputy Prime Minister on a range of issues relating to my departmental responsibilities.

Languages

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many designated slots his Department has for staff at (a) confidence, (b) operational and (c) extensive language qualification levels.

Henry Bellingham: There are currently approximately 120 designated speaker slots for staff at confidence level, approximately 460 slots at operational and approximately 110 at extensive level.

Piracy

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the potential cost of piracy to the UK economy in 2012; and what discussions he has had with his international counterparts on ways of minimising that cost.

Henry Bellingham: It has been estimated by One Earth Future that maritime piracy could be costing the global economy up to US$12 billion a year, both directly and indirectly such as through increased insurance premiums. The turnover of the British shipping industry is worth £10.7 billion of our national GDP. Approximately US$1 trillion of trade to and from Europe travels through the Gulf of Aden, the second busiest international trade route in the world and a key area affected by piracy.
	Britain is playing a leading role in counter-piracy operations at sea off the Horn of Africa, and in the same region we are leading international work with regional partners to build penal, judicial and law enforcement capacities in support, with more than 1,000 pirates now in custody. We are also playing an active role to take steps to address piracy off the western coast of Africa.
	The first line of defence remains self-defence by ships to minimise the risk of successful hijack. But the long-term solution to maritime piracy lies on land, with the development of justice and rule of law capacity and increased stability.

Piracy

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the cost of piracy to the UK economy in the last five years; and what steps his Department has taken to minimise this cost.

Henry Bellingham: The turnover of the British shipping industry is worth £10.7 billion of our national GDP; nearly $1 trillion of trade to and from Europe travelled through the Gulf of Aden in 2008 and this is the second busiest international trade route in the world. One World Future has estimated that piracy could be costing the global economy up to $12 billion a year in direct costs and indirect costs such as increased insurance premiums.
	Britain is playing a leading role in the counter-piracy operations at sea, and we are leading international work with regional countries to build penal, judicial and law enforcement capacities in support, with more than 1,000 pirates now in custody. The first line of defence remains self-defence measures by ships to minimise the risk of a successful highjack. But the long-term solution lies on land, with rule of law and increased stability.

Somalia: Conferences

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether Somali (a) civil society organisations and (b) women leaders will be invited to participate in the London conference on Somalia in February 2012.

Henry Bellingham: Because this conference is about international coordination, only governments and multilateral organisations are invited to the day itself. But we are very keen to use the opportunity of the conference to deepen our engagement with academia, civil society and the Somali diaspora. In the run-up we will hold a number of events, both in the UK and in the region, which will provide an opportunity to feed in views and we will invite Somali civil society and prominent women from the Somali diaspora. We're also inviting comments via our website on the key themes that will be coming up at the conference.

Tristan da Cunha: M.S. Olivia

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received on progress following the collision of M.S. Olivia with Nightingale Island, Tristan da Cunha.

Henry Bellingham: We are in close contact with the Tristan da Cunha authorities in dealing with the aftermath of the M.V. Olivia sinking. Negotiations with the vessel's insurers continue and fishery experts met in Cape Town in November to agree the way ahead on the affected areas of the lobster fishery. In addition, a specialist team conducted an underwater survey of the wreck in early January. While the report of this survey has not yet been issued, early indications are that the wreck continues to be broken up by the South Atlantic.
	The British Government remain determined that all costs resulting from this incident must be borne by the M.V. Olivia's owners and insurers.

HEALTH

Care Quality Commission

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 24 January 2012, Official Report, column 194W, on the Care Quality Commission, whether the Care Quality Commission conducted an analysis of regulation and regulators' experience in dealing with the specialist versus generic inspector role referred to in its 9 December 2009 board meeting minutes; and if he will place in the Library a copy of any such analysis.

Simon Burns: The following information has been provided by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
	The CQC conducted a high level assessment examining the pros and cons of a ‘specialist inspector’ versus ‘generic inspector supported by specialists’ field force model drawing on lessons learnt from work with the Independent Regulator of NHS Foundation Trusts (Monitor) and the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) as well as discussions with CQC staff, this included examining what ‘specialist’ means in the context of regulation. It also looked at which approach benefits the efficient escalation of risk; quality assurances processes; and making use of clinical input.
	This assessment was presented to the CQC Board on 9 December 2009 by the then chief operating officer. The CQC has provided a copy of the documents titled ‘Interfaces between intelligence and the field force’ and ‘CQC 9 December 2009—Field force slides’ that were used at this board meeting, and have been placed in the Library.
	Given the scope of the changes, they were subject to a full 90 day consultation with staff and unions. They came into force in May 2010.

Care Quality Commission

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 24 January 2012, Official Report, column 194W, on the Care Quality Commission, if he will place in the Library a copy of the field force paper referred to in the 9 December 2009 Care Quality Commission board meeting minutes.

Simon Burns: The Care Quality Commission has provided a copy of the board paper titled ‘Reshaping the Field Force Model’, which has been placed in the Library.

Dental Services

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to maintain the number of NHS dentists.

Simon Burns: The number of dentists who deliver national health service care is growing steadily. In the year ending 31 March 2011, 22,799 dentists worked on an NHS contract compared to 22,003 in the previous year. 820,000 more patients now have access to NHS dentistry compared to May 2010.

Dental Services: Waiting Lists

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many people are on the waiting list for an NHS dentist in (a) Cumbria, (b) the North West and (c) England;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the average time spent on a waiting list for an NHS dentist in (a) Cumbria, (b) the North West and (c) England.

Simon Burns: This information is not held centrally.

Departmental Travel

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 16 January 2012, Official Report, column 31WS, on cost of ministerial cars, whether his Department has any other arrangements for ministerial travel; and how much his Department has spent on (a) private hire vehicles and (b) taxis for each Minister since May 2010;
	(2)  whether his Department has agreed any contracts with (a) private hire vehicle and (b) taxi companies since May 2010.

Simon Burns: All Ministers in the Department use public transport, where practical, while travelling on official government business. The Department has a contract with Addison Lee for the provision of taxis on account for Ministers and the Permanent Secretaries. There has been no expenditure on private hire cars for Ministers other than the Government Car Service. According to the Department's business management system, £2,637.71 was spent on taxis between May 2010 and 31 December 2011 from the budgets attached to the ministerial offices. However, it is not possible to distinguish whether this is ministerial or Private Office staff expenditure as they share the same code.
	Since May 2010, the Department has not agreed any contracts for private hire vehicles. It has agreed a contract with Addison Lee for the provision of taxis on account for Ministers and the Permanent Secretaries.

Departmental Work Experience

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what work experience or traineeship schemes his Department offers to minority groups.

Simon Burns: The Department participates in the Civil Service Summer Diversity Internship programme for candidates from ethnic minority groups and, recently, also for those from under-represented socio-economic backgrounds. This programme provides high calibre undergraduates or graduates from those groups with experience in how the Government Fast Stream Scheme works, as a viable career option.
	The Department agreed to recruit three individuals to be placed. They received development in policy delivery from their assigned teams.

Diabetes: Nurses

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many specialist diabetes nursing posts there are in the NHS; and how many are vacant.

Paul Burstow: The current number of diabetic specialist nurses employed by the national health service is not collected centrally. The annual work force census does not separately identify specialist nurses.
	It is for local NHS organisations, with their knowledge of the health needs of their local population to train and recruit the staff needed to best meet these needs.

Disability Aids

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of expenditure by each local authority (a) overall and (b) per head of population on (i) aids and adaptations and (ii) respite care for disabled people in each of the last 10 years.

Paul Burstow: Data on local authority expenditure on social care are collected and published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre. Data on local authority expenditure on equipment and adaptations and respite care has been placed in the Library. The data for 2010-11 are provisional and subject to change. Final data for 2010-11 will be published in March 2012.
	Data are available for aids and adaptations from 2001-02 to 2010-11, but data on local authority expenditure on respite care has only started to be collected as a voluntary data item on the Personal Social Services Expenditure Return (PSSEX1) return in the last two years.

Electromagnetic Fields: Health Hazards

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the effect on the health of (a)  adults and (b) children of electromagnetic radiation from (i) smart meters and (ii) mobile phones.

Anne Milton: The Health Protection Agency (HPA) provides advice to Government on health effects from electromagnetic fields from various sources including radiofrequency radiation from mobile phones and smart meters. The HPA's independent Advisory Group on Non-ionising Radiation (AGNIR) reviewed health effects in relation to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields in 2003 for the then National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) (see Documents of the NRPB, volume 14, number 2, which is available on the HPA website at:
	www.hpa.org.uk/Publications/Radiation/NPRBArchive/DocumentsOfTheNRPB/Absd1402/
	AGNIR is currently updating this review and is due to publish its findings in 2012.
	In between the publication of formal review reports, the HPA monitors emerging scientific studies covering electromagnetic fields and children's and adults' health and keeps its advice under review.
	The Department set up the independently managed Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research (MTHR) programme in 2001. MTHR has funded in the order of 28 projects concerning radiofrequency electromagnetic fields and health to date. Further details of the research programme are available on the MTHR website at:
	www.mthr.org.uk/

Health and Social Care Bill 2010-12

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the effect of the proposals in the European Commission's revised public procurement directive on his legislative proposals in the Health and Social Care Bill;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the potential effects of proposals made in the European Commission's revised public procurement directive on his decision to raise the private patient income cap to 49 per cent;
	(3)  what assessment he has made of the potential effects on clinical commissioning groups of proposals made in the European Commission's revised public procurement directive to remove the distinction between Part A and Part B services; and whether this proposal affects the application of European competition law to the NHS.

Simon Burns: The European Commission published its proposals for a revised public procurement directive on 20 December 2011. The proposed directive would have to be agreed by all member states for it to become law and the Government are currently finalising their negotiating position.
	However, the Department does not consider that these proposals have a bearing on services provided to private patients by foundation trusts nor on the applicability, or not, of competition law to the national health service.

Health Services: North East

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health who the members are of the NHS North East Regional Transition Programme Board; and whether any members have declared any financial remuneration or benefits from private companies.

Simon Burns: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 30 January 2012, Official Report, column 492W, on NHS.

Health: Finance

Hazel Blears: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the use of ring-fenced public health funding by local authorities.

Simon Burns: The Department currently makes revenue allocations to primary care trusts (PCTs). These allocations are not broken down by service or policy area. It is for PCTs to commission services to meet the health care needs of their local populations, taking account of local and national priorities.
	Subject to the passing of the Health and Social Care Bill, from 2013-14 the Department intends to allocate a ring-fenced public health grant, targeted for health inequalities, to upper-tier and unitary local authorities (LAs) for improving the health and well-being of local populations.
	In order to support the setting of future ring-fenced grants to LAs for public health, last year the Department asked PCTs to submit returns on public health outturn expenditure for 2010-11. Estimates of baseline public health spend for 2010-11 across LAs will be published shortly.

Health: Screening

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of people between 40 and 70 years old participated in the NHS Healthcheck programme (a) in total and (b) in each strategic health authority area.

Simon Burns: The number of eligible people between 40 and 74 offered and receiving a NHS health check between April and September 2011 has been published on the Department’s website:
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Statistics/Performancedataandstatistics/Integratedperfomancemeasuresmonitoring/DH_129481
	A copy has been placed in the Library. This information is broken down by strategic health authority. Prior to this there were no comprehensive central data collections in place to measure the number of NHS health checks received by eligible 40 to 74-year-olds.

Hospitals: Admissions

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the outcome was of his examination of each in-patient readmission to the NHS; what variations there were between (a) clinical specialties and (b) hospitals in whether readmissions were judged to be reasonable and clinically required; and what level of savings has arisen from this exercise.

Simon Burns: A policy allowing, with some exceptions, primary care trusts (PCTs) not to pay service providers in cases of emergency readmission was introduced from 1 April 2011. The policy operates at local level and details of local reviews of readmissions are not held centrally.
	PCTs are required to use the savings from non-payment for readmissions to improve post discharge services and at the end of the first quarter of the 2011-12 financial year, strategic health authorities undertook a survey to gather information about the level and use of the savings. The survey found that £107.5 million had been saved in the first quarter. The survey findings were published on the Department's website on 22 December 2011 in The Quarter, which is available at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/health/2011/12/the-quarter-quarter-2-201112/
	A copy of the document has been placed in the Library.

Meals on Wheels

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what the average charge was for meals on wheels services in each local authority area in each of the last 10 years;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of expenditure by each local authority (a) overall and (b) per head of population on meals on wheels for pensioners in each of the last 10 years.

Paul Burstow: Information on the average charge for meals on wheels services is not collected centrally.
	Data on local authority expenditure on social care is collected and published by the NHS Information Centre via the National. Adult Social Care Intelligence Service online analytical processing tool. Further information is available on the Information Centre website at:
	www.nascis.ic.nhs.uk
	Data, provided by the Information Centre, on local authority expenditure on meals for older people—aged 65 or over—for the years 2001-02 to 2010-11, has been placed in the Library.

NHS Trusts: Procurement

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to promote and support the application of procurement best practice within and between NHS trusts; and what savings he expects to accrue from improved procurement by 2015.

Simon Burns: The Department is currently, developing NHS Standards of Procurement. These standards will provide the national health service with a clear vision of “what good looks like”. A resource for NHS procurement will be developed from these standards, which will include indicators, guidance on how to achieve the standards, a library of tools and templates, and national support for each one, where appropriate.
	Each of the 19 standards outlines how performance in this area can be improved, and set out the characteristics of organisations at different stages on the journey to improved procurement. The standards also include suggested indicators which could be used to measure performance against each one. This set of indicators is expected to evolve as the standards start to be used, and experience across the NHS is shared.
	The NHS Standards of Procurement are due to be fully launched in March 2012. However, NHS procurement staff can currently access the draft document, as part of wider communication activity to continually develop best practice in this area.
	The NHS Standards of Procurement are in support of, and contribute to, helping the NHS achieve the £1.2 billion cumulative procurement savings target identified as part of the Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention programme by end March 2015.

NHS: Drugs

Margot James: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what recent assessment he has made of his Department's document entitled Best practice for ensuring the efficient supply and distribution of medicines to patients, February 2011;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to address delays in the supply of prescribed medicines to patients.

Simon Burns: The Government and organisations representing the various parts of the supply chain continue to review the issues addressed in the joint best practice guidance.
	There are nearly 900 million prescriptions dispensed a year, over 10,900 community pharmacies and some 16,000 presentations of medicines, so some shortages and delivery delays are inevitable. We have well established arrangements for dealing with these. We are continuing to work with stakeholders to minimise their impact on patients.

Primary Care Trusts: North East

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost was to (a) Doncaster, (b) Barnsley, (c) Rotherham, (d) Sheffield and (e) Bassetlaw primary care trusts of (i) establishing and (ii) staffing cluster boards.

Simon Burns: Information on costs incurred by Doncaster, Barnsley, Rotherham, Sheffield and Bassetlaw primary care trusts (PCTs) in establishing and staffing the South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw PCT cluster board is not centrally collected.
	The right hon. Member may wish to approach the chief executive of the South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw PCT cluster, which may hold some relevant information.
	PCT clustering is a management tool to support PCTs to maintain management capacity and performance, and to support government policy to drive down national health service administration costs. As such, clustering supports the NHS to make savings rather than imposing costs upon it.

Primary Care Trusts: North East

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what information his Department holds on the number of staff that have been made redundant by the primary care trusts in (a) Doncaster, (b) Barnsley, (c) Rotherham, (d) Sheffield and (e) Bassetlaw since April 2010; and what the average cost per staff member was of such redundancies to each such primary care trust;
	(2)  how many staff redundancies by the primary care trusts in (a) Doncaster, (b) Barnsley, (c) Rotherham, (d) Sheffield and (e) Bassetlaw have involved an individual redundancy payment of over £75,000;
	(3)  what the cost to the public purse was of staff redundancies by primary care trusts in (a) Doncaster, (b) Barnsley, (c) Rotherham, (d) Sheffield and (e) Bassetlaw since April 2010.

Simon Burns: Information is not centrally available in the format requested. Information on the number, total cost and average cost of exit packages, and total number of exit packages over £40,000, for Barnsley, Bassetlaw, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield primary care trusts (PCTs) for the financial year 2010-11, is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Organisation Total number of exit packages Total cost of exit packages (£000) Average cost of packages (£000) Total number of exit packages over £40,000 
			 Barnsley PCT 94 3,323 35 28 
			 Bassetlaw PCT 11 248 23 1 
			 Doncaster PCT 105 3,005 29 24 
			 Rotherham PCT 53 2,257 43 17 
			 Sheffield PCT 22 490 22 4 
			 Notes: 1. The disclosure in the accounts reports the number and value of exit packages taken by staff leaving in the year. The expense associated with these departures may have been recognised in part or in full in a previous period. 2. Data for 2011-12 will be available in the summer, once the Department's annual report and accounts are published. 3. Exit packages include compulsory redundancies and other departures. Other departures include early retirements (except those due to ill health). Voluntary redundancies are not separately identifiable from the other departures; therefore an overall figure for redundancies is not available. 4. The exit packages are disclosed by cost band, but these bands do not allow packages with an individual payment of over £75,000 to be separately identified, since one of the reporting bands is £40,001 to £100,000. The figures in the table, therefore, include the number of exit packages in this band, and all above £100,000. Source: The data is taken from the audited summarisation schedules, from which the NHS (England) Summarised Accounts are prepared.

Social Services

Hazel Blears: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has assessed the potential effects of the recommendations of the Dilnot Commission on adults no longer able to fund their own social care.

Paul Burstow: The coalition agreement set out the Government's clear commitment to reforming the system of social care to provide much more control to individuals and their carers, and to ease the cost burden that they and their families face.
	This commitment to reform is why we acted quickly to set up the Commission on Funding of Care and Support, which published its report in July 2011.
	When the commission published its report, Government set out a clear timetable for assessing the impacts of the commission's recommendations, making the necessary trade-offs with other priorities for social care reform, and deciding on the best way forward. We said that we were working towards a White Paper on social care and a progress report on funding reform in spring 2012, and we remain committed to that timetable.
	The commission's report has formed the basis of Government's recent engagement with stakeholders. This engagement exercise examined the impact of these recommendations, and brought them together with other priorities for reform from across the social care system to look at the trade-offs between them.
	In addition to our work with social care stakeholders, the Department is looking in detail at the impact of the commission's recommendations. A full assessment of the recommendations will be included in the progress report, which we will publish in the spring. We are not able to pre-judge the contents of that report now by commenting in detail on the impact of the recommendations.

Social Services

Hazel Blears: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to increase access to specialist training for social carers.

Paul Burstow: The “Vision for Adult Social Care: Capable Communities and Active Citizens” recognises the need for a diverse workforce that is capable and well trained. The Department, working with Skills for Care, jointly produced a Workforce Development Strategy in May 2011, which sets out broad areas for widening access to the knowledge, skills and capacity the workforce will need in the future.

Social Services

Hazel Blears: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to promote social care as a career.

Paul Burstow: The ‘Vision for Adult Social Care: Capable Communities and Active Citizens’ identifies the need for a capable and well-trained work force. The Department is working with Skills for Care to attract a diverse work force into the sector.
	In May 2011, the Recruitment and Retention Strategy was produced jointly and promotes improved public awareness of social care careers and the opportunities on offer within the sector.

Social Services

Hazel Blears: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the use of funding allocated by his Department to social services.

Paul Burstow: Local authorities are responsible for decisions on spending on adult social care. At a national level, the NHS information Centre collects detailed information on Personal Social Services (PSS) expenditure through the Personal Social Services Expenditure return (PSSEX1). A copy of the most recent PSSEX1 report ‘Personal Social Services Expenditure and Unit Costs: England 2010-11—Provisional Release’ has been placed in the Library, and contains provisional details of 2010-11 expenditure.
	The spending review outlined an additional £1 billion per annum by 2014-15 to be allocated within the national health service to be spent on measures that support social care. The Department collected information from primary care trusts in September 2011 to understand how the transfer of NHS money was progressing and on which services it was being used. The information suggests that the money is being used on a wide range of services. A full breakdown of this can be found in the NHS publication ‘The Quarter’, a copy of which has been placed in the Library.

Social Services

Hazel Blears: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received on the potential costs of his planned reforms on social care; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Burstow: The care and support White Paper and progress report on funding reform, planned for spring 2012, will set out the Governments plans for transforming the care and support system.
	To understand what the priorities for reform should be, the Government launched ‘Caring for our future’. We worked with leaders from the care and support community, supported by expert reference groups, to seek a broad range of views from people who use care and support services, carers, local councils, care providers and the voluntary sector. Further details on the engagement, discussion leads and the output from key events can be found at:
	www.caringforourfuture.dh.gov.uk
	The Department is currently reflecting on the findings and will continue to work with stakeholders to develop policy, including associated costs and benefits, and to help us decide the approach to the care and support White Paper and progress report on funding reform.

Social Services: Finance

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of expenditure by each local authority (a) overall and (b) per head of population on social care in each of the last 10 years.

Paul Burstow: Data on local authority expenditure on social care are collected and published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre. Data on local authority expenditure on for 2001-02 to 2010-11 are provided in the tables which have been placed in the Library. The data for 2010-11 are provisional and subject to change. Final data for 2010-11 will be published in March 2012.

Social Services: Older People

Hazel Blears: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of funding for adults no longer able to fund their own social care in each of the last five years.

Paul Burstow: In the current social care system, people who can afford to pay are required to fund their own social care out of their income and assets. In some cases, people need long-term social care, and some of them will, over time, use up their assets to the point that they qualify for state support to fund their own care. At this point, the local authority will provide them with support to pay for care.
	We do not centrally hold information on how many people spend down their assets and are subsequently supported by the state, nor do we know the total cost of supporting these people.

HOME DEPARTMENT

CCTV

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations she has received from police authorities on the decision by some local authorities to cease or reduce funding for the operation of CCTV; and if she will make an assessment of any potential effects of such funding reductions on the prevention and detection of crime in (a) Bradford, (b) Birmingham, (c) Thurrock, (d) Derby and (e) Ashfield.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 30 January 2012
	No such representations have been received. The provision and deployment of CCTV by local authorities is a matter for those authorities to assess in the light of local need and resources.

Cybercrime

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans she has to increase penalties for cyber crime.

James Brokenshire: As part of the UK's Cyber Security Strategy, published in November 2011, the Government are reviewing existing legislation to ensure that it remains relevant and effective.

Drugs

Ian Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which substances considered to be legal highs are under review by her Department.

James Brokenshire: The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (the ACMD), the Government's independent experts, keep under review the situation in the United Kingdom with respect to drug-related issues, including any reviews of new psychoactive substances sold as “legal highs”. The current availability of these substances is being monitored and, as appropriate, individual substances will be reviewed by the ACMD and advice provided to the Government.
	We have already taken a number of actions against the threat from these new substances. Parliament is due to consider the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (Amendment) Order 2012 shortly which seeks the control of a number of new psychoactive substances, using generic legislation where appropriate, on the ACMD's advice. We have introduced the new power to invoke a temporary class drug order.
	Alongside these legislative actions, we have improved our drugs early warning systems to enable us to respond proactively to the issues that these new substances pose. The FRANK service is updated to provide the latest information about the harms and risks associated with known substances.

Hizb ut Tahrir

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will review her decision not to proscribe the organisation Hizb ut Tahrir.

James Brokenshire: Hizb ut-Tahrir is an organisation about which the Government have significant concerns and its activities are kept under close review.

Illegal Immigrants: Employment

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the level of employment of illegal immigrants in the UK in 2011.

Damian Green: The Government place high priority on effective action against illegal working. Although illegal working is by nature a clandestine activity and the consequent absence of available data prevents a detailed assessment of the scale of the problem, the UK Border Agency conducts targeted intelligence-led enforcement operations to detect and apprehend illegal workers and penalise employers who break the law in this area. The system of civil and criminal sanctions enables the UK Border Agency to take appropriate action against non-compliant employers who negligently or deliberately employ those without permission to work in this country.

Members: Correspondence

Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to reply to the letter of 27 September 2011 from the hon. Member for Luton South, regarding Janoi Donacien's application for discretionary leave to remain.

Damian Green: Responses to the hon. Member's correspondence regarding this case were issued on 2 September and 13 December. Due to an error, a letter dated 30 September was misallocated and a response not issued. A response has now been sent. I am sorry for the delay in responding to the hon. Member's correspondence.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to reply to the letter of 19 December 2011 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr B. Khan.

Damian Green: I refer the right hon. Member to my letter of 30 January 2012.

Metals: Theft

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the national metal theft taskforce will hold its first meeting; and if she will place in the Library a copy of the minutes of this meeting.

James Brokenshire: The National Metal Theft taskforce will be an operational body focused on enforcement action rather than meetings. However, the Home Office, the Department for Transport and the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) have agreed that the taskforce's work will be co-ordinated through a subgroup of the ACPO Metal Theft Working Group. We do not intend to publish minutes of those meetings, although we will report on the taskforce's progress in due course.

Metals: Theft

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the timetable is for the establishment of the national metal theft taskforce.

James Brokenshire: The Metal Theft Taskforce is currently being established. Discussions are under way between British Transport Police, local police forces and other law enforcement agencies to agree the operational priorities in each area. This will help maximise the impact of the additional enforcement activity made possible by the £5 million invested through the National Infrastructure Plan.

Metals: Theft

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  when she plans to introduce a comprehensive set of measures to tackle metal theft in the UK;
	(2)  whether she has any plans to bring forward legislative proposals to tackle metal theft; and by what date she plans to bring such proposals forward;
	(3)  what discussions she has had with her ministerial colleagues concerning the timetable for introducing a package of measures to tackle metal theft;
	(4)  what recent representations she has received from her ministerial colleagues on the need to tackle metal theft.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 25 January 2012
	Metal theft is a serious and growing national problem with wide ranging social and financial impacts and is taking urgent action to address it, including funding a new dedicated metal theft taskforce.
	The Government consider that legislation is the only sustainable, long-term solution and will lay in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill an amendment to create a new criminal offence to prohibit cash payments to purchase scrap metal; and significantly increase the fines for all offences under the existing Scrap Metal Dealers Act 1964 that regulates the scrap metal recycling industry. These amendments are part of our wider attempts to tackle all stages in the illegal trading of stolen scrap metal, and we shall bring forward further measures in due course.

Passports: Immigration Controls

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  if she will estimate the number of people who have entered the UK without having their passports checked via the Eurostar route from Brussels via Lille;
	(2)  how often trains entering the UK from continental Europe are checked by UK Border Agency staff on arrival.
	(3)  what steps she is taking to prevent passengers on Eurostar trains from Brussels via Lille from entering the UK without having their passport checked.

Damian Green: The UK Border Agency (UKBA) closely monitors all trains from Lille at St Pancras, Ebbsfleet and Ashford and carries out more detailed checks on trains where it is suspected that a passenger has evaded the controls. A significant number of passengers are also removed from the train at Lille in co-operation with Eurostar and the French authorities.
	The Government and UKBA senior officials are working closely with Belgian counterparts and service operator Eurostar to strengthen controls.

Police: Croydon

Malcolm Wicks: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers were serving in Croydon at the end of January (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

Nick Herbert: Police personnel data are collected on a financial year cycle. The latest available data shows the number of police officers serving in Croydon as at 31 March 2010 and as at 31 March 2011 (full-time equivalent).
	
		
			 Police officer strength in  Croydon (1) 
			  Number 
			 31 March 2010 755 
			 31 March 2011 736 
			 (1) These figures are based on full-time equivalents that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Figures include those officers on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Cyber Crime

Karl McCartney: To ask the hon. Member for Aberdeen North, representing the House of Commons Commission, whether Parliamentary IT systems have been the target of cyber attack in the last five years.

Frank Doran: It is not the policy of the Commission to comment on security matters. It is, however, already publicly known that Parliament was subject to a cyber attack when it was affected by the Conficker virus in March 2009.

Telephone Tapping

Karl McCartney: To ask the hon. Member for Aberdeen North, representing the House of Commons Commission, pursuant to the answer of 23 November 2011, Official Report, column 420W, on telephone tapping, what the Commission would consider a legitimate reason to monitor hon. Members' staff (a) emails and (b) data.

Frank Doran: I refer the hon. Member to paragraph 10 of the Houses of Parliament ICT Security Policy Statement with which all users of the parliamentary network are expected to comply as a condition of their use of the network, as follows:
	“PICT does not routinely monitor the content of communications or internet sites visited but where misuse of the network or computer facilities is suspected it may be required to provide evidence (including the content of documents or communications) for use in disciplinary or legal proceedings. Any action will be taken strictly in accord with applicable legislation (including the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000) and parliamentary procedures, including the Speaker's Protocol.”

INDEPENDENT PARLIAMENTARY STANDARDS AUTHORITY COMMITTEE

Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority: Public Appointments

John Spellar: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, what the criteria are for membership of the Board of IPSA; and what assessment he has made of the suitability of the membership of Ken Olisa against those criteria.

Charles Walker: Schedule 1 of the Parliamentary Standards Act provides that candidates for the board of IPSA are selected by the Speaker, with the agreement of the Speaker's Committee on the IPSA, on merit, on the basis of fair and open competition.
	I have asked IPSA to send the criteria which formed the basis for the recruitment competition to the hon. Gentleman, and to place them in the House of Commons Library.
	The statute provides that appointments to the board are made by Her Majesty on an address of the House of Commons. The motion for the appointment of current board members was agreed by the House on 2 December 2009.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Afghanistan: Politics and Government

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions he has had with the government of Afghanistan on devolving government powers to local officials in Helmand Province.

Andrew Mitchell: Developing stronger local government in Helmand and across the country is essential for the long-term stability of Afghanistan. My officials are in regular contact with the Government of Afghanistan, Provincial Governors and international partners on this issue. In Helmand, the UK is working closely with the Provincial Governor's office, with district government officials and local communities, to ensure that local government bodies are increasingly able to deliver services and respond to citizens' needs. At the national level, the UK is helping the Independent Directorate of Local Governance to take forward key policy reforms to improve local government effectiveness.

Arms Trade: Treaties

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether he is taking steps to support the participation of women from conflict-affected countries in the arms trade treaty negotiations.

Alan Duncan: The Government are very concerned by the disproportionate impact that armed violence can have on women and believe an arms trade treaty (ATT) is an opportunity to tackle the harmful effects of irresponsible arms transfers. The Department for International Development is part of the cross-Government delegation to the ATT negotiations, which works closely with delegates from other states, including those affected by conflict. Women are represented on many delegations to the negotiations. Officials have met with the Survivors Group which comprises men and women affected by armed violence.

Debts

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what conditions must be met by a country before it qualifies for debt relief.

Andrew Mitchell: The primary debt relief mechanism is the heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) initiative for low income countries. A country is eligible if its debt level is considered unsustainable as assessed against the following criteria, using data from the end of 2010:
	(a) Income—A country must have a per capita income that qualifies it as eligible for concessional support from the World Bank's International Development Association and the IMF's Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust.
	(b) Indebtedness—A country must have a debt service payments to Export earnings ratio of over 150% after the full application of traditional debt relief mechanisms (additional criteria can be assessed if considered appropriate, depending on an individual country's circumstances).
	There are two stages to debt relief in the HIPC process: Decision Point, which provides interim relief on debt repayments as they fall due and Completion Point, at which stage full and irrevocable debt relief is granted.
	If a country meets the eligibility criteria, to proceed to Decision Point they must have demonstrated progress towards macroeconomic stability, developed a national poverty reduction strategy and cleared any outstanding arrears to multilateral banks. Each country also agrees a specific set of reforms it will implement to qualify for the second stage. To reach Completion Point, a country must have demonstrated further progress towards stable economic management and successfully implemented its poverty reduction strategy for at least one year.

Departmental Travel

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether his Department has agreed any contracts with (a) private hire vehicle and (b) taxi companies since May 2010.

Alan Duncan: The Department for International Development (DFID) has not awarded any centrally-let contracts with (a) private hire vehicle and (b) taxi companies since May 2010.
	To provide information relating to contracts which may have been awarded by our delegated procurement officers based in overseas locations would incur disproportionate costs. The Ministerial Car Service has been re-awarded to improve value for money.

Developing Countries: Employment

Michael McCann: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions regarding the G20 Task Force on Employment; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of its work on increasing the number of employment opportunities in developing countries.

Stephen O'Brien: DFID and DWP officials are in regular contact on the G20 agenda and development.
	The work of the G20 Task Force on Employment is at an early stage. It has been mandated to consider best policy and practice in meeting the challenges of youth employment, in order to feed into discussions of the G20 Labour and Employment Ministers. The UK will be engaging to encourage the group to focus on concrete, value-added outcomes.

Human Trafficking: Victims

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what funding his Department provides to victims of human trafficking who are returned to their home country.

Stephen O'Brien: The Department for International Development (DFID) does not currently provide direct support to victims of human trafficking who are returned from the UK to their home country. DFID officials are discussing this issue with Home Office officials.
	DFID does support a range of projects which are tackling human trafficking in developing countries. For example, we are supporting a new regional anti-trafficking project in South Asia, focusing especially on labour migration of women and girls in the garment and domestic sectors in India, Bangladesh and Nepal. The programme aims to reduce trafficking of 60,000 women and girls in these sectors over four years.

Palestinians: Overseas Aid

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will give assistance to Bedouins in Anata following the demolition of their homes in the west bank on 23 January 2012.

Alan Duncan: The Bedouin community in Anata is currently receiving assistance from a range of humanitarian agencies following the demolition of their homes in the west bank on 23 January 2012.
	The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have provided emergency assistance, including camping tents, food and mattresses, to the community. The Israeli Committee against House Demolitions (ICAHD) are assisting the community to clean up the site and Action against Hunger (ACF) is currently installing water tanks and mobile latrines. The Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED) and the ACF are currently looking into replacing the seven residential structures and the ICAHD are planning to rebuild the community centre which was destroyed. In the interim, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OHCA) is planning to install insulated temporary structures for the community. The Norwegian Refugee Council, supported by the UK, is providing free legal support to protect the community kindergarten, which has not been demolished.
	The UK is clear that the focus between the Israelis and the Palestinians should be on steps to build trust, with the aim of giving momentum to re-start negotiations. In this respect, house demolitions and the evictions of Palestinians from their homes are deeply unhelpful and cause unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians.

Sudan: Debts

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of (a) how much and (b) over what time period debt is owed by Sudan.

Andrew Mitchell: The level of Sudan's external debt is estimated to be in the order of £38 billion. One of the technical requirements for debt relief under the heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) initiative is a full account of Sudan's debt covering precise amounts, creditors and time periods. The International Monetary Fund is nearing completion of this exercise.

Sudan: Debts

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what debt relief proposals his Department has made to Sudan.

Andrew Mitchell: The UK has told the Government of Sudan that it continues to support its aspiration to receive debt relief under the heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) initiative. As part of this we have led international efforts to establish a technical working group to oversee the progress on the technical steps for HIPC. The UK has made clear that this is subject to certain political conditions being met, including genuine progress towards inclusive peace and justice in Sudan, and resolving the outstanding issues from the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

West Africa: Food Supply

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether he is taking steps to avert a serious food shortage in West Africa.

Stephen O'Brien: The EC Humanitarian Office (ECHO) estimates that 6.8 million men, women and children across the Sahel region of West Africa are at risk of severe food shortages in the coming months. This is due to a lower harvest in 2011 compared with 2010, combined with unseasonably high cereal prices across West Africa.
	In direct response to these early warning signals, my Department has announced an urgent package of support to help mitigate the crisis. British aid will help treat 68,000 severely malnourished children in Niger, Chad and Mali and provide animal feed and animal vaccinations to 30,000 families to keep their livestock alive.
	In addition, British aid is already reaching those in need through the release of £7.8 million from the United Nation's Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF)—to which Britain is a major contributor.
	With Department for International Development (DFID) officials I will continue to monitor the situation closely and will liaise with their opposite numbers in other Governments to ensure other countries take their fair share of the response.
	DFID officials will continue to liaise closely with officials from other agencies and are currently visiting the region to further assess the current situation.
	We also need to improve conditions for these people to withstand future droughts. Britain acted quickly in the Horn of Africa and the UK urges similarly swift leadership from our partners in the Sahel.

JUSTICE

Cyber Crime

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he is taking to ensure that offenders do not have access to the internet while in prison; and whether his Department is undertaking any collaborative work with the Home Office in connection with that Department's review of legislation relating to cyber crime.

Crispin Blunt: Prisoners are not permitted access to the internet, except for restricted access to approved websites for educational or resettlement purposes under strict supervision by staff. Prisoners are not allowed to operate social networking accounts while in prison. The National Offender Management Service deploys a range of security and intelligence-led measures to detect, prevent and deter access by prisoners to the internet via illicitly held mobile phones.
	The Ministry of Justice will work closely with the Home Office, other Government Departments and law enforcement agencies as part of the Home Office review of legislation relating to cyber crime, once this review is under way.

Departmental Travel

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 16 January 2012, Official Report, column 31WS, on cost of ministerial cars, whether his Department has any other arrangements for ministerial travel; and how much his Department has spent on (a) private hire vehicles and (b) taxis for each Minister since May 2010.

Jonathan Djanogly: There are no formal arrangements for ministerial car travel other than that provided by the Government Car and Dispatch Agency. Ministers in the Ministry of Justice do occasionally use taxis and I have provided expenditure on taxis for each Minister for the period May 2010 to December 2011 in the following table. Private hire vehicles are not used by Ministers in the Department.
	
		
			 Name of Minister Total cost of taxis (£) 
			 Kenneth Clarke 0 
			 Lord McNally 260.41 
			 Jonathan Djanogly 292.14 
			 Crispin Blunt 143.73

Departmental Travel

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether his Department has agreed any contracts with (a) private hire vehicle and (b) taxi companies since May 2010.

Kenneth Clarke: The Ministry of Justice has awarded private hire vehicle contracts since May 2010; however, no contracts have been awarded to taxi companies.

Drugs: Rehabilitation

Margot James: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health on (a) Public Health England's new responsibility for all drug recovery budgets and (b) placing a duty on Public Health England to reduce reoffending rates.

Crispin Blunt: Justice Ministers regularly meet with colleagues across Government as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.
	My Department is working closely with the Department of Health, the Home Office and other partners to help manage the transition to new public health and criminal justice arrangements. This is overseen by a cross-Government Health and Criminal Justice Programme Board and an Offender Substance Misuse Board.
	Subject to parliamentary approval local authorities will be responsible for commissioning drug treatment services in the new public health system. Funding for this will come from a public health ring-fenced grant. Giving local authorities responsibility for commissioning drug and alcohol prevention and recovery orientated treatment services will bring together treatment provision and the wide range of local services that help promote and sustain recovery. This will help reduce health risks and cut crime and make our society safer. These goals are reflected in the Public Health Outcomes Framework published on 23 January 2012 which includes indicators on completion of drug treatment, reoffending, as well as a number of related indicators. Local areas will determine how they wish to improve outcomes in these areas based on the joint assessment of local needs.
	Further, Public Health England will be established as an executive agency of the Department of Health. Its role will be to support local commissioners with expert advice, evidence and management information including outcomes and value for money data. This will help promote effective prevention and treatment services integrated with local health, crime, housing and employment agencies.
	Subject to parliamentary approval, the responsibility for commissioning substance misuse treatment services for people in prison and other places of prescribed detention will lie with the National Health Service Commissioning Board, under an agreement between the Secretary of State for Health and the NHS Commissioning Board.

Employment Tribunals: Business

Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what consideration he has given to keeping a record of the number of small businesses engaged in employment tribunals.

Jonathan Djanogly: Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) does not record centrally which of the respondent businesses before employment tribunals are small businesses. If it were to do so, HMCTS would incur additional cost (in terms of one-off changes to IT systems and in terms of ongoing data entry burdens on staff).
	However, in individual cases, employment tribunals do have access to information about the size and broad make up of respondent employers; and judges and tribunals can and do take this information into account when managing and determining cases.
	Moreover, the Government do collect information about the number of small businesses engaged in employment tribunal proceedings. For example, the periodic Survey of Employment Tribunal Applications (SETA) series, run by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), gives relevant evidence for policy development and other purposes. The last survey (2008) showed that 27% of those who took part in the survey were organisations with less than 25 employees; 9% had between 25 and 49 employees; 19% had between 50 and 249 employees; and 45% had 250 or more employees.
	Information on the SETA series is available online at:
	http://www.bis.gov.uk/policies/employment-matters/research/seta
	while the most recent survey results can be accessed at:
	http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/employment-matters/docs/10-756-findings-from-seta-2008

National Youth Advocacy Service

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice for what reasons the National Youth Advocacy Service was refused a family contract for 2012.

Jonathan Djanogly: Decisions made under the tender process for the award of legal aid contracts are a matter for the Legal Services Commission (LSC), which is responsible for administering the legal aid scheme.
	The LSC advises that the National Youth Advocacy Service's (NYAS) tender to deliver family legal aid services was unsuccessful because it failed to submit a tender compliant with the rules of the tender process. The LSC announced on 23 January 2012 that an additional tender round will be conducted in February which NYAS will be able to apply for, should they choose to do so.

Prisoners’ Release

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the effect on the prison estate of prisoners who were recalled having served their tariff.

Crispin Blunt: As at 31 December 2011 the prison population in England and Wales included around 200 prisoners who had been recalled from life or IPP licence (having initially been released on licence after serving at least their minimum tariff).
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Sentencing

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Sentencing Council in fulfilling its statutory duty to consult Parliament on its guidelines; and if he will make a statement.

Crispin Blunt: The independent Sentencing Council for England and Wales is required under sections 120(6)(c) and 122(4)(c) of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 to consult the Justice Select Committee on its draft guidelines. Since its creation in April 2010, the Council has consulted the Justice Select Committee on the following draft guidelines:
	Assault offences
	Drug offences
	Burglary offences
	Overarching guidelines on allocation, totality and offences taken into consideration
	Dangerous dog offences
	Since April 2010, the Chairman of the Council has also given oral evidence to the Justice Select Committee on its draft guidelines on assault, burglary and drug offences, and on the contents of the Council's annual report.
	Section 119 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 requires the Council to prepare an annual report on its work, and requires the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (Mr Clarke), to lay a copy before Parliament. The Council's first annual report for 2010-11 was laid before Parliament on 18 October 2011.

Sentencing

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he plans to take to ensure that the Sentencing Council improves public confidence in judicial sentencing; and if he will make a statement.

Crispin Blunt: The independent Sentencing Council for England and Wales has a statutory duty under section 120(1 l)(d) of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 to have regard to the need to promote public confidence in the criminal justice system when preparing sentencing guidelines.
	Since its creation in April 2010, the Council has sought views from victims and communities on its draft guidelines through public events, online questionnaires, plain English consultation documents, and by carrying out public attitudes research. The Council produces a leaflet and a website on sentencing, explaining the main factors judges and magistrates take into consideration when deciding on an appropriate sentence. It is also producing a short film to help victims and witnesses better understand the sentencing framework.

Victims’ Commissioner: Public Appointments

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when a new Victims' Commissioner will be appointed.

Crispin Blunt: We are considering the future of the role and will make an announcement after the consultation on the paper ‘Getting it Right for Victims and Witnesses’, launched on 30 January, is complete.

Victims: Compensation

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what consideration he has given to changing the composition of the Sentencing Council better to reflect the views of victims of crime; and if he will make a statement.

Crispin Blunt: Judicial appointments to the Sentencing Council for England and Wales are made by the Lord Chief Justice. Non-judicial appointments are made by the Lord Chancellor. Schedule 15 to the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 sets out a number of areas of experience which make a person eligible for appointment as a non-judicial member of the Council, including experience of the promotion of the welfare of victims of crime. The Council's current non-judicial members were appointed in April 2010 for terms of three years.
	Since its creation in April 2010, the Council has sought the views of victim groups and individual victims on each of its draft guidelines. It has also undertaken a number of research projects to elicit the views and attitudes of victims. The Council is currently completing research on attitudes to sentencing sexual offences, which has included interviews with victims (or the parents of victims where the offence was against a person under 16).

Victims: Terrorism

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will bring forward legislative proposals on compensation for victims of terrorism.

Crispin Blunt: On 30 January the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (Mr Clarke), announced the Government's intention to introduce two new schemes for making payments to victims of terrorism overseas. A statutory scheme, made under the Crime and Security Act 2010, will be for eligible victims of future terrorist acts abroad while an ex gratia scheme will be for victims of terrorist acts going back to 2002. A draft of the statutory scheme will be laid in Parliament for approval by a resolution of both Houses before coming into force.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Departmental Travel

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether his Department has agreed any contracts with (a) private hire vehicle and (b) taxi companies since May 2010.

Owen Paterson: The Northern Ireland Office has not agreed any contracts for private hire vehicles and taxi companies since May 2010.

Departmental Work Experience

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what work experience or traineeship schemes his Department offers to minority groups.

Owen Paterson: Following the Devolution of Policing and Justice to the Northern Ireland Assembly on 12 April 2010, all home civil servants within my Department have adopted the terms and conditions of the Ministry of Justice. In doing so the Department has also adopted MOJ guidance on apprenticeships and work experience schemes which are open to all staff including those from minority groups.

SCOTLAND

Deloitte

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what contracts his Department has awarded to Deloitte and its associates since May 2010; and what the (a) net and (b) individual value of each such contract was.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office has awarded no contracts to Deloitte and its associates since May 2010.

Departmental Drinks

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much his Department has spent on (a) wine, (b) other alcoholic refreshments and (c) bottled water since May 2010.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office does not hold the information in the format requested.
	All expenditure incurred is in accordance with the principles of Managing Public Money and the Treasury handbook on Regularity and Propriety.

Departmental Recruitment

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland pursuant to the answer of 10 January 2012, Official Report, columns 101-2W, on departmental recruitment, how much of the £816.27 spent on recruitment agencies was spent on agency (a) fees and (b) staff.

David Mundell: The total spend on recruitment agencies of £816.27 all relates to staffing costs.

Departmental Travel

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 16 January 2012, Official Report, column 31WS, on cost of ministerial cars, whether his Department has any other arrangements for ministerial travel; and how much his Department has spent on (a) private hire vehicles and (b) taxis for each Minister since May 2010.

David Mundell: Scotland Office Ministers hire ministerial cars or private hire cars if and when required for ministerial business and on occasions make use of taxis or public transport.
	The cost of ministerial travel between May 2010 and December 2011 is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 £ 
			  Secretary of State Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State 
			 Private hire vehicles 43,116 15,624 
			 Taxis 3,303 4,218

Departmental Travel

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether his Department has agreed any contracts with (a) private hire vehicle and (b) taxi companies since May 2010.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office has not entered into any new contracts with private hire vehicle or taxi companies since May 2010.

Elections: Local Government

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland pursuant to the answer of 30 January 2012 to question 92101, how many registered voters there were in each category who were eligible to register to vote in local government elections but not eligible to register to vote in UK parliamentary elections as at 1 December 2010.

David Mundell: Of those eligible to register to vote in local government elections but not eligible to register to vote in UK Parliament elections, the numbers registered as at 1 December 2010 by category are:
	
		
			  Number 
			 Citizens of the European Union 58,004 
			 Peers 54 
		
	
	Electoral statistics are reported by the General Register Office for Scotland and further information can be found on their website:
	http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/theme/electoral-stats/index.html

TRANSPORT

Biofuels: Research

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment her Department has made of the effect of recent research in synthetic biology on the development of cleaner transport fuels.

Norman Baker: Work within the Department for Transport (DFT) is looking at the potential renewable energy production and greenhouse gas savings derived from a variety of different technologies. This includes synthetic biology where micro-organisms are used as biocatalysts to turn materials into biofuels.
	DFT recognises that advanced biofuels may offer many benefits including increased greenhouse gas savings, producing fuels from land which was otherwise unproductive or from waste material with no other uses. Some advanced biofuels may also be more readily used in current vehicles than first generation biofuels.

First TransPennine Express

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions she has had with First TransPennine Express on amendments to its franchise agreement to permit an increase in the number of trains

Michael Penning: No amendments have been made to the franchise agreement to date. The Department for Transport are in negotiations with the preferred bidders for the manufacture, maintenance and financing of the new rolling stock. Subject to these negotiations being brought to a successful conclusion, contracts are expected to be finalised within the first quarter of 2012.

Heathrow Airport: Night Flying

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many times the legal limit of night flights at Heathrow airport has been breached in the latest period for which figures are available.

Theresa Villiers: At Heathrow airport there is a movement and noise quota limit for the summer and winter seasons. The airport operator is also allowed to carry up to 10% of unused movements and noise quota points to the next period. There has been no breach to these limits since the current night flight restrictions came into operation in 2006.

Railways: Accidents

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many young people have been killed on Merseyrail railway lines in each of the last 10 years.

Michael Penning: The Office of Rail Regulation and the RSSB collate figures of incidents and accidents on the railway that are reported under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases, and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995.
	Both these bodies publish annual reports in which such rail safety statistics are set out. Page 127 of the RSSB Annual Safety Report for 2010-11
	http://www.rssb.co.uk/SPR/REPORTS/Pages/default.aspx
	provides data on the number of public fatalities on the railway occurring to children since 2001-02 at a national level.
	The right hon. Member might wish to contact these organisations direct to discuss figures applicable at specific local or regional levels.

Roads: Accidents

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many times accidents involving one or more vehicles on the Birmingham New Road, Dudley, between Priory Road and Tipton Road, have required the attendance of the emergency services in each of the last five years.

Michael Penning: The number of reported personal injury accidents on the Birmingham New Road, Dudley, between Priory Road and Tipton Road in each of the last five years where police attended the scene and reported details of the accident to the Department is given as follows:
	
		
			 Number of accidents 
			  Police attended scene of accident Total (1) 
			 2006 4 4 
			 2007 4 5 
			 2008 2 3 
			 2009 5 5 
			 2010 1 3 
			 (1) Includes accidents reported to police where police did not attend the scene of accident (ie reported later at a police station) 
		
	
	The Department only collects information on personal injury road accidents reported to the police. Information on the attendance of other emergency services in road accidents is not collected.

Speed Limits

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps she is taking to ensure the enforcement of 20 mph speed limits and other traffic calming measures outside schools.

Norman Baker: Enforcement is a matter for the police along with local traffic authorities who also have responsibility for traffic calming. The Department has been working with ACPO to revise their guidance in this area. We are also currently reviewing our own guidance on speed limits, and are liaising with the police and local authorities as part of this.

Transport: Wales

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions she has had on access to the Cohesion Fund ring-fenced funding in the Connecting Europe Facility for the West Wales and the Valleys region.

Theresa Villiers: The Secretary of State for Transport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Putney (Justine Greening), has not had any discussions regarding access to the Cohesion Funds (ring-fenced for Transport projects) referred to in the European Commission's proposal for a Connecting Europe Facility. The UK is not eligible for Cohesion Funding.

Railways: Finance

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what she proposes will be the total expenditure from (a) her Department's budget and (b) Network Rail's regulated asset base on electrification of the TransPennine Express in each of the remaining years of the comprehensive spending review period.

Theresa Villiers: holding answer 24 January 2012
	Following the Department for Transport's commitment to fund the electrification of the North TransPennine Express line as part of the Growth Review, Network Rail have begun working up detailed plans for the delivery of this scheme. This includes considering the delivery programme for this work.
	The Department for Transport and Network Rail are confident that the early works which were committed to at the Growth Review can be funded as a result of efficiencies which Network Rail has made within the current Control Period. We therefore anticipate that there will be no additional cost to the public purse within Control Period 4 from undertaking this scheme.
	From the start of Control Period 5 in 2014-15, the investment which has been added to Network Rail's Regulated Asset Base will be reflected through a charge for the cost of Network Rail's capital.

Railways: Finance

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what she proposes will be the total expenditure from (a) her Department's budget and (b) Network Rail's regulated asset base on measures to reduce disruption on the rail network in each of the remaining years of the comprehensive spending review period.

Theresa Villiers: holding answer 24 January 2012
	As part of the Growth Review, the Department for Transport committed to fund £100 million of further investment in the Network Rail Discretionary Fund (NRDF) to reduce disruption on the rail network and reduce the cost of running the railway. We anticipate that this investment will be complete by the end of Control Period 4 in 2013-14.
	This investment will be funded by efficiencies which Network Rail has made within the current Control Period. We therefore anticipate that there will be no additional cost to the public purse within Control Period 4 from undertaking this scheme.
	From the start of Control Period 5 in 2014-15, the £100 million investment which has been added to Network Rail's Regulated Asset Base will be reflected through a charge for the cost of Network Rail's capital.
	A number of other means of reducing disruption on the rail network are being funded in Control Period 4 and the Department will consider the case for funding further measures in Control Period 5.

TREASURY

Departmental Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was paid to officials in his Department and its non-departmental public bodies in (a) bonuses, (b) allowances and (c) other payments additional to basic salary in each of the last two years for which figures are available; what categories of payment may be made to officials in addition to basic salary; what the monetary value is of each category of payment; and what the monetary value was of the 20 largest such payments made in each of the last two years.

Chloe Smith: The information is answered in the following table:
	
		
			 £000 
			 Allowance 2009-10 2010-11 
			 Procurement 25 25 
			 Cost of living (overseas) 65 43 
			 Fast stream 5 2 
			 Additional performance 50 64 
			 Language(1) 9 0 
			 London Location Allowance — 7 
			 Overtime 1,116 683 
			 Responsibility 205 234 
			 Press Office 49 44 
			 Private Secretary 225 189 
			 Miscellaneous 18 18 
			 Typing proficiency 1 0 
			 Meal (for working after 8 pm) 12 7 
			 Housing cost 3 1 
			 London (for Senior Civil Service band 1 staff) 167 150 
			 Internal Audit 14 16 
			 Accountancy 66 62 
			 (1) Now coded as London location allowance 
		
	
	Allowances such as procurement, audit and accountancy are paid to staff in recognition of professional qualifications, that they occupy a designated post in the profession and undertake the required professional activities. Other allowances are paid to staff when they are posted abroad to cover rental and cost of living. Overtime and meal allowance is paid to staff who, work beyond their contracted hours. Private office and press office allowance is paid to some staff who work in these offices in recognition of the long hours worked. Those in receipt of the allowance do not claim overtime.
	All allowances paid are considered as part of the overall pay and reward strategy in HM Treasury. In line with the announcement on public sector pay freeze by the Chancellor in October 2009 all allowances have been frozen along with pay. The two year pay freeze ends in 2012 for HM Treasury and allowances will be reviewed in line with the 1% pay cap and as part of the overall reward strategy.
	
		
			 Bonus award 
			 Bonus type (1) 2009-10 2010-11 
			 Performance (£000) 1,218 905 
			 Number of performance awards 1,013 316 
			    
			 Special (£000) 98 127 
			 Number of special awards 236 308 
			    
			 20 largest bonus and allowance awards (£000) 15 15 
			  15 15 
			  15 15 
			  13 12.5 
			  13 12.5 
		
	
	
		
			  13 12.5 
			  13 12.5 
			  12 12 
			  10 11.3 
			  10 10 
			  10 10 
			  10 10 
			  10 10 
			  10 10 
			  10 10 
			  10 10 
			  10 10 
			  10 10 
			  10 10 
			  10 10 
			 (1) Some staff may have received both types of bonus payment in a single financial year.

Departmental Travel

Maria Eagle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his Department has agreed any contracts with (a) private hire vehicle and (b) taxi companies since May 2010.

Chloe Smith: HM Treasury has not agreed any new contracts with either (a) private hire vehicle or (b) taxi companies since May 2010.
	An extension of 10 months to the existing contract with Goldstar Taxis Norwich was agreed in June 2011.

Mortgages

Richard Fuller: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he has considered taking to encourage early repayment of mortgage debt.

Mark Hoban: The Government are committed to reducing the burden of debt built up before the crisis. In the short-term it is also important that household spending supports recovery in the economy. This will encourage employment and economic growth and will contribute to stronger income and aid the transition to a lower long-term debt burden. The Government's tough action on the deficit will support this process. Interest payments for mortgages are currently the lowest as a proportion of total income since records began.

WOMEN AND EQUALITIES

Members: Females

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what steps she is taking to increase the number of women hon. Members.

Lynne Featherstone: It is important that our democracy is representative of the people it serves. As I said in responding to the back bench debate on 12 January 2012, Official Report, columns 438-442, on the Speaker's Conference, the Government welcome the 2010 Speaker's Conference report on Parliamentary Representation and supports the broad thrust of its recommendations to improve the diversity of Members of Parliament.
	The Equality Act 2010 allows parties to use women-only shortlists if they wish to do so. We are working with the political parties and the House authorities on ways of encouraging more women to seek election, and for Parliament's working practices to recognise the diverse needs of its Members and potential Members, especially women, so that they can be fully effective representatives.
	We are also working with the parties on the importance and benefits of parties collecting and publishing diversity data relating to candidates. This was discussed at a round table meeting between officials and political parties' diversity representatives on 27 January 2012.

Social Services: Female Workers

Hazel Blears: To ask the Secretary of State for Women and Equalities whether she has assessed the potential effect of the recommendations of the Dilnot Commission on women working in social care.

Paul Burstow: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department of Health.
	The coalition agreement set out the Government's clear commitment to reforming the system of social care to provide much more control to individuals and their carers, and to ease the cost burden that they and their families face.
	This commitment to reform is why we acted quickly to set up the Commission on Funding of Care and Support, which published its report in July 2011.
	When the commission published its report, Government set out a clear timetable for assessing the impacts of the commission's recommendations, making the necessary trade-offs with other priorities for social care reform, and deciding on the best way forward. We said that we were working towards a White Paper on social care and a progress report on funding reform in spring 2012, and we remain committed to that timetable.
	The commission's report has formed the basis of Government's recent engagement with stakeholders. This engagement exercise examined the impact of these recommendations, and brought them together with other priorities for reform from across the social care system to look at the trade-offs between them.
	In addition to our work with social care stakeholders, the Department is looking in detail at the impact of the commission's recommendations. A full assessment of the recommendations will be included in the progress report, which we will publish in the spring. We are not able to pre-judge the contents of that report now by commenting in detail on the impact of the recommendations.

WORK AND PENSIONS

A Comparative Review of Workfare Programmes

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the 2008 report commissioned by his Department, A comparative review of workfare programmes in the United States, Canada and Australia; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Grayling: The report ‘A Comparative Review of Workfare Programmes in the United States, Canada and Australia’ (Department for Work and Pensions, Research Report No. 533) demonstrated that workfare schemes that have removed a requirement to continue jobsearch activity can lock claimants in, reducing their likelihood of entering sustained employment.
	The Department for Work and Pensions does not operate a workfare scheme. Nonetheless, the Department has considered the findings of this report in the design of its current employment programmes. This includes ensuring that JSA claimants participating in programmes that include a period of mandatory work experience continue to be required to actively seek and be available for employment and are given appropriate time and, in many cases, additional support to find work.

Atos Healthcare

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 18 January 2012, Official Report, column 840W, on Atos Healthcare, what proportion of all claimants participating in the Atos Quality Survey rated Atos Healthcare's performance as (a) very good, (b) good, (c) poor and (d) very poor in (i) 2008, (ii) 2009, (iii) 2010 and (iv) 2011.

Chris Grayling: Unfortunately the information requested above is not available in the format requested.
	The answer could be provided only in the requested format at costs that exceed the disproportionate cost limit of £800 for parliamentary questions.
	The data provided from the survey is collated into a Highlight Report by Atos Healthcare on a monthly basis. An overall satisfaction measurement that makes reference to key questions about Atos Healthcare service provision by both Medical Assessment Centres and Domiciliary Visits is provided. Services scored include:
	Arranging appointments;
	Rearranging appointments;
	Receptionist; and
	The Health Care Professional (HCP).
	The overall findings for November 2011 are included as follows:
	
		
			   Overall 
			 Question  Number answered Number very/quite good 
			 Arrange appointment Overall 425 368 
			 Rearrange appointment How easy 409 333 
			 Receptionist Overall 819 743 
			 HCP Courtesy 924 882 
			  Professionalism 919 850 
			  Gentleness 911 827 
			 Total  4,407 4,003 
			     
			 Percentage  90.83  
		
	
	The overall response rate is 31.5%.
	Source:
	Atos Healthcare
	The data generated in this format indicates why there would be a disproportionate cost to providing detail for 48 months as requested.

Employment Schemes

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average is of the single payments contracted to be made to mandatory work activity providers.

Chris Grayling: The specific amounts paid to individual mandatory work activity providers are commercial in confidence.

Employment Schemes

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on what basis payments are made to the two agencies providing services in assisting claimants to return to work; and whether payments are made in respect of clients where (a) the agency and (b) the individuals have found the work.

Chris Grayling: The two Work programme providers you refer to, A4e and Ingeus Deloitte, along with all other providers receive three types of payment. These are:
	a small attachment fee for each claimant referred to the Work programme. This is designed to assist with start-up costs and will reduce over the first three years until it is zero in year four;
	an outcome fee that is paid after 26 weeks in employment for mainstream jobseeker's allowance claimants, and after 13 weeks for jobseeker's allowance early access claimants and all other claimant groups;
	a sustainment payment that is paid to the provider every four weeks that a claimant stays in work. These payments can be claimed for up to one year, eighteen months or two years, depending on how far the claimant originally was from the labour market.
	Outcome fees are not payable as soon as claimants start work, in recognition of the fact that some claimants would have found work without a provider's support. Rather, outcome payments after 13 or 26 weeks coupled with sustainment payments thereafter create strong incentives for providers to help claimants into sustained employment and to continue to support them to stay in work.

Homeworking: Safety

Andrew Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he has taken to simplify health and safety guidance for those working from home.

Chris Grayling: As part of the response to 'Common Sense, Common Safety', last year the Health and Safety Executive produced much shorter, simplified downloadable guidance on homeworkers.

Housing Benefit

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to maintain sufficient levels of local housing allowance.

Steve Webb: Housing benefit expenditure has spiralled out of control, doubling in cash terms between 2000 and 2010, when it reached £21 billion. Left unreformed, housing benefit would cost £26 billion by 2014-15 (cash terms). It is absolutely essential that the Government take urgent steps to manage housing benefit expenditure. The local housing allowance reforms, announced in the Emergency Budget and spending review, will, by 2014-15, result in annual savings of around £1.5 billion.
	To ease the transition for these reforms the Government have put in place a substantial package of financial and practical support worth £190 million over the spending review period. The Government are also giving existing customers up to nine months transitional protection from the review date of their claim to help them adjust to the new rates and to find alternative accommodation if needed.
	These measures are intended to exert a downward pressure on rents in the private rented sector. To support this drive, the Government are temporarily widening local authority discretion to pay housing benefit direct to the landlord if it would help the claimant secure a new tenancy or remain in their current home at a reduced rent.
	The Department for Work and Pensions has commissioned a major programme of independent research that will evaluate and monitor the effects of the local housing allowance changes. The preliminary findings of this research will be available in spring 2012.

Social Security Benefits

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to ensure out-of-work families receive benefit support that reflects the individual circumstances of a household.

Chris Grayling: All claims for out-of-work benefits are assessed on a case by case basis. This ensures that the level of benefit support varies according to the needs of the household.
	From 2013 the Government will introduce a cap on the total amount of benefit that working-age people can receive so that in most cases, households on out-of-work benefits will no longer receive more in welfare payments than the average weekly wage for working households. However, the cap will not apply in some cases including where there are additional needs arising from disability and a member of the household is receiving disability living allowance.

Social Security Benefits: Foreign Workers

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average age was of migrants to the UK who claimed working age benefits in the latest period for which figures are available.

Chris Grayling: The average age of DWP working age benefit claimants, as at February 2011, who were non-UK nationals at the point of national insurance number registration was 42.
	Notes:
	1. These statistics do not provide a measure of non-UK nationals currently claiming benefits based on their current nationality. The statistics do provide an estimate of the number of people currently claiming benefit who, when they first registered for a NINo (that is, first entered the labour market), were non-UK nationals.
	2. State pension age: The age at which women reach state pension age will gradually increase from 60 to 65 between April 2010 and April 2020
	3. Figures represent the mean age (where age is known), rounded to the nearest year.
	Source:
	DWP: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study and HMRC National Insurance and Pay as you Earn System (NPS)
	DWP has recently published statistics on the nationality of benefit claimants at the point of their registration for a national insurance number. Further information can be found in the full statistics release 'Nationality at point of National Insurance number registration of DWP benefit claimants' at
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=adhoc_analysis

Social Security Benefits: Foreign Workers

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of migrants to the UK who were claiming working age benefits were female in the latest period for which figures are available.

Chris Grayling: The gender of DWP working age benefit claimants, as at February 2011, who were non-UK nationals at the point of national insurance number registration is given in the following table.
	
		
			  Total Proportion (percentage) 
			 Male 173,540 47 
			 Female 197,490 53 
			 Notes: 1. These statistics do not provide a measure of non-UK nationals currently claiming benefits based on their current nationality. The statistics do provide an estimate of the number of people currently claiming benefit who, when they first registered for a NINo (that is, first entered the labour market), were non-UK nationals. 2. Counts are rounded to the nearest 10, proportions to the nearest percentage. Source: DWP: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study and HMRC National Insurance and Pay as you Earn System (NPS). 
		
	
	DWP has recently published statistics on the nationality of benefit claimants at the point of their registration for a national insurance number. Further information can be found in the full statistics release 'Nationality at point of National Insurance number registration of DWP benefit claimants' at
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=adhoc_analysis

Unemployment: Young People

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the Princes' Trust Youth Index 2012 in respect of its findings on youth unemployment.

Chris Grayling: The Prince's Trust Youth Index 2012 highlights the importance of structure, routine and support in the lives of young people. We agree with this and have a coherent strategy to increase the number of 16 to 24-year-olds who are in education, employment or training. This includes measures to increase the participation age and a new youth contract worth £1 billion. The contract will provide more intensive support for all 18 to 24-year-olds—building on that already available through Jobcentre Plus and the Work programme. It also makes extra funding available to support the most vulnerable NEET 16 and 17-year-olds into learning, an apprenticeship or job with training.

Universal Credit: Carers

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to ensure payment of universal credit to a main carer.

Chris Grayling: Under universal credit couples will make a joint claim for benefit payment. We have been clear that claimants will receive universal credit as a single payment. This will ensure that claimants can clearly see the effect of their decisions about work on total household income. Couples will have the choice about which bank account their total UC award should go in to, including the option to have it paid into a joint account, and they will have the freedom to manage their money how they choose.
	There may be cases which require alternative arrangements and as a safeguard we have ensured that we have legislative provision to split payments to couples in certain circumstances. We are considering the circumstances required to split payments, and further detail will be available in due course.

Universal Credit: Carers

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he has considered replacing severe disability premium as part of his plans for universal credit for the purposes of helping young carers to reduce the burden of care.

Chris Grayling: The severe disability premium was never intended as a payment for young carers, it was designed to provide extra support for severely disabled people who live alone. It is the role of local authorities to ensure that the education, development and general well-being of young carers is not affected by any caring responsibilities.
	Universal credit will simplify the current system of multiple, overlapping, disability premiums, replacing these with two rates: a lower rate for people with limited capability for work and a higher rate for people who also have limited capability for work-related activity. The higher rate will be substantially higher than the equivalent rate in employment and support allowance. This will provide a more consistent approach to support for severely disabled people who are least able to work than the current complex structure.

Voluntary Organisations

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what contribution his Department is making to implementation of the Compact with the voluntary sector; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Grayling: The Department implements the principles of the Compact by following the Government code of practice on consultation and by requiring welfare to work providers to comply with the code of conduct which underpins the DWP commissioning strategy. The Compact principles are further embedded through the Merlin Standard which all providers are required to achieve as a condition of their contracts.
	The Department believes that the voluntary sector has a key role to play in supporting DWP's most vulnerable customers to move into or retain employment and as such will endeavour to comply with the principles of the Compact in all its dealings with these organisations.

Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many voluntary sector providers in the Work programme supply chain were identified through the stocktake of 31 January 2012.

Chris Grayling: The figures from the most recent stocktake are currently being collated and will be issued in due course.

Working Conditions: Temperature

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent discussions he has had with representatives of trades unions on high temperatures in the workplace.

Chris Grayling: The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Mr Duncan Smith), has not had any recent discussions with representatives of trade unions on high temperatures in the workplace.
	Trade union representatives were involved in an independent review into workplace temperatures commissioned by the Health and Safety Executive in 2009 and in a subsequent survey about temperatures in workplaces.
	HSE has also met with trade union representatives to discuss high temperatures on a number of occasions.

Working Conditions: Temperature

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent representations he has received on high temperatures in the workplace.

Chris Grayling: The DWP ministerial team has had no recent representations on high temperatures in the workplace.